Seraph's Departure
by saiki.kensuke.yuuta
Summary: First attempt at a multichaptered story. Mainly YojixKen. A mess of pairings. Details inside. Please read and review! COMPLETE! READ THE SEQUEL! Sequel titled: Aufwecken!
1. Weißer Engel

Author's Note: **I would really appreciate feedback and reviews.** Be as harsh or as gentle as you'd like. Flames are acceptable as long as they are constructive and have some kind of basis and truth to them.

This will be the first of a series of chapters. I'm planning it to be 4 parts or maybe a little more or less, depending on how things turn out!

Disclaimer: I do not own Weiss Kruez (Knight Hunters) or any of its characters.

Warnings: Angst and drama, hints of romance and fluff here and there.

Pairing: Ken-centric with hints of RanxKen, YojixKen, RanxOmi, Omi+Ken (Friendship only), and a twisted ShuldichxKen (One-sided).

Fic Note: Order of pairings in later chapters will be RanKen, RanOmi, ShuKen, YoKen, then Omi+Ken (friendship).

**Seraph's Departure**

_**Weißer Engel**_

It was as if everything was going into slow motion. One minute ago Ken had been laughing and joking along side them, the next, Ken was bloodied on the ground with pink roses scattered all around him. The members of Weiss watched in shock and horror as Ken's smile turned into a slight jaw-drop of surprise, his smiling eyes widening in shock and pain. Bullets ripped through his back, causing Ken to tilt almost gracefully back, releasing the pot of flowers he had been holding.

"Oh shit! You shot the wrong person!" they heard one of the wild teens in the blue car cry out.

The car had skidded away quickly. The members of Weiss barely noticed another shady looking teen sprint around the corner to safety. Omi had hurriedly gone to Ken's side while Yoji called for an ambulance. Ran just seemed to look down at Ken, stunned at what he was seeing. They had been assassins for so long, they had forgotten that to a point they were still definetly human. Even a car could run over them and kill them, if they weren't careful. As the ambulance carried Ken away in critical condition, all of the members of Weiss had some kind of anger start to well up in their chest. They found out later that Ken had almost died, and at present he was barely hanging on, and could die at any moment. There would be no guarantees for the boy's future. What angered them all most later was, Ken had not been the intended target. He had just been in the wrong place, at the wrong time. They found this out after Manx had called them all in for a new mission. It was a drug ring bust.

At first, none of Weiss was in the mood to take on this mission. That was until the pictures of their targets were shown.

Ran's left eye twitched as the pictures were being showcased. Something was oddly familiar about some of them. "Hey!" Yoji snapped Ran's mind out of his thoughts.

"What is it, Yoji?" Omi asked, a bit surprised at Yoji's outburst.

"Don't you recognize these guys?" Yoji asked, snuffing out his cigarette on the floor.

Omi and Ran looked carefully. Omi's eyes was the first to widen in recognition, "The men from this morning! _Ken-kun_...!"

The transmission ended and the room fell silent. Manx cleared her throat and was the first to break the silence. "So...it appears that you all are in."

"Hn," was the only reply Ran gave before taking the file from Manx.

Yoji had a look of determination in his eyes. Omi got up from his seat and walked up a few steps closer to Manx, nodding. Manx half-smiled. "Very well. Good luck on your mission. Remember, it is not necessary to kill _all _of these people. Only the ones _heavily involved_. The others can probably turn around, if given the chance."

The air about them was uneasy as none of the assassins replied in affirmative to this. They simply all turned and left the basement of the flower shop. Manx watched after them with worry. "_All right boys..._" she thought, "_Don't do anything rash..._"

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The Weiss boys all found themselves standing around Ken's beside late that night, in their assassin gear. Ran's hand was gripped tightly on his weapon. Omi was next to Ran, holding the older assassin's free hand tightly, a small source of comfort. Yoji was leaning over Ken, brushing a few stray strands of hair away from Ken's pale and lifeless face. After some time, Yoji brushed his lips gently across Ken's forehead. Ran looked away at that moment, squeezing Omi's hand a bit tighter. Omi half-smiled and hugged Ran's arm, trying to comfort him as best he could.

Eventually the three Weiss looked at each other and seemed to settle on a silent agreement. It was time to go now.

With quick speed, the three assassins climbed back out of the window in which they came in order to see Ken this late at night. Their mission was beginning. Ken would be avenged. That was something all of them wished to do. They knew that the only reason Ken had stayed in Weiss for so long was because of his wish to be with his friends. His reason to be in Weiss faded long after killing Kase. Ken had always seemed to come through, helping each member out of a tight spot during each mission, preventing them from getting killed and usually getting some hefty wounds in the process. Now it was their turn to do something for Ken.

Only one thing stood in their minds as they ran towards their next destination. Avenge Ken. Perhaps by doing so, they could revive the smile that they had so suddenly lost.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Saiki.Kensuke.Yuuta: Okay, not quite sure how I'm going to go about this yet...I know next couple chapters are going to be mostly memories...but we'll see how things go on from here!

Just a warning though...;; If things don't go the way I planned for this story, I _will _take this story down. I personally hate to leave up bad-quality work. So keep your fingers crossed, people! ;; I'm keeping mine crossed!


	2. Lächeln von des Engels

Author's Note: **THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR REVIEWS LAST CHAPTER. It was really encouraging! I was kind of unsure if this fic was a good idea or not, but I'm feeling a little more confident of it now. Once again, THANK YOU ALL!**

Disclaimer & Warnings: Everything you need to know was placed in the first chapter.

Pairing: In this particular chapter, it's basically RanKen and hints of RanOmi.

Fic Note: This chapter is set completely in the past. That's how all the chapters are going to be and it will lead back up to the mission at hand eventually.

_**Lächeln von des Engels**_

Ken had been the first to call him _Ran_. They had started their "relationship"-Ran had refused to admit that they were dating-close to the beginning of Weiss. There was always something about Ken that intrigued him. Ken, the boy that didn't have to try to be the center of attention, he somehow always seemed to get there. Their relationship intensified after Ken had killed Kase. From that point on, it took all Ran had to keep Ken from mindlessly killing people.

Somewhere during the late night comforts and the declarations of love, Ran began to fall distant from Ken. Somehow, the youth was different to him now. That's when he started to notice Omi a bit more, and his concern would start leaning more towards the chibi's favor. He would still protect Ken, and often, but now it seemed like more a force of habit than out of caring. Yes, he still cared for Ken; he cared for all the members of Weiss. The point was, the type of caring seemed to have changed. It had become far more platonic. Ran had once again refused to admit this, however. Ken had been the only one to strike emotion out of him before, and he refused to believe that another person had that kind of power.

Ran had fallen in love with Ken because of his smile. Even during missions he seemed to hold a sort of sense of humor. A humor that he kept even at the flower shop, his smiles making up for his clumsiness. Ran especially loved watching Ken play soccer. It was the one thing that Ken was superb at, and never once seemed to make a mistake. Watching Ken play with such grace always caused Ran to forget how clumsy Ken really was.

Ken was also the first person he showed Aya to, after she had recovered from her coma. Aya just loved him. She would always joke and ask when Ran and Ken were getting married. At the time, Ran had been so sure that Ken would be his forever. He had been wrong.

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Ken had just come back from dropping Aya back off at her house. Ran was planning on taking Ken out for a movie, but Ken had decided to just walk around the park and get some ice cream instead. Just like Ken to want to do something active rather than something simple and more romantic, in Ran's opinion. Eventually, the two of them settled on a bench. The place was mostly deserted, so Ken rested his head in Ran's lap freely without worrying about people watching. Ran wouldn't have cared anyway. It was _Ken_. There was no denying him several small displays of public affection, since Ken didn't ask for it much because he knew Ran wasn't very interested in those practices.

Ken had looked up at Ran and smiled. "Ran..." he whispered.

Ran had faintly smiled back down at Ken, brushing a few strands of hair out of Ken's eyes. "Hn..."

Ken took one of Ran's hands and entertwined it with one of his own. Ken was staring at Ran's shirt now, smiling a small smile. "Ran...you make me so happy."

Ran used his free hand to cradle Ken's head closer, Ken closed his eyes. "I miss your smile, Ran..."

This made him frown. He looked down at Ken and made a face that asked what in the world Ken was talking about, but Ken wasn't looking at him. His eyes were still closed, and his head was still turned away. He brushed his thumb over Ken's soft hand. He saw Ken's eyes open, and before he knew it, Ran felt droplets of warmth fall on his shirt, which quickly turned an icy cold. He used the hand that had been holding Ken's to wipe away Ken's fresh tears. As soon as his hand was released, Ken's hand clamped onto Ran's arm.

Ran was in a slight panic, this was the first time he had been the reason for Ken's tears. "Ken...! Ken, what is it? What's wrong?"

Ken slowly got up, and hugged Ran tightly. "This is..."

Ran raised an eyebrow, not understanding what Ken was getting at. Ken then looked up and with his arms around Ran's neck kissed Ran on the mouth. Ran just stared at Ken in confusion, allowing Ken to kiss him. Ken pulled back and laughed softly, tears threatening to fall again. "Ran...tell me you felt something just now."

Ran raised an eyebrow. He didn't understand. "Ken, what am I supposed to feel?"

This caused Ken to laugh a laugh that Ran could just not place his finger on. It couldn't be described. The closest description would be a painful laugh of a beautiful creature. Like an angel, or something. Ran felt an empty pit forming in his stomach. He wasn't sure how to handle this situation, and he wasn't enjoying how it was unfolding very much either.

"Ran...when did you change? Or was it me that changed too much for you?" a question that communicated volumes with Ran.

Ran felt his heart drop. He began to wonder if Ken felt the distance that he had been feeling for quite a while now. Ran blamed himself mostly for that. He just couldn't handle the murderous side of Ken for some reason. With Omi and Yoji it seemed perfectly all right, but somehow with Ken, Ran just didn't like that side of Ken. Ran bit the inside of his lip, thinking about how to answer. He tasted the coppery taste of his blood in his mouth, and he sucked on it a while as he was contemplating. He didn't want to give Ken more reason for inner anguish.

"Ken...what are you trying to say?"

Ken sighed and rested on Ran like a deadweight, he seemed to have lost all energy. "You're not making this any easier for me, Ran...I can read you better than anybody in Weiss. I knew something was up with you a while ago, but I wanted to make sure...your mood swings used to pass over after a while, but this mood you're in now...it's been like this for a long time, Ran. I don't want to play games anymore."

Ran took the defensive. "Who said I was playing a game?"

"But you are, and you know it," an accusing tone.

"Hn...then tell me what kind of game I'm playing, exactly."

Ken was laughing that strange laugh again. Ran didn't like that response. "Do you love me, Ran?"

Ran was getting agitated now. Ken _knew _he didn't like being put on the spot with questions like that, but he forgave him this time because something felt different about the nature of the question. "Ken...I've told you before I-"

"Yes. I know. You care for me very much. There is a difference between caring a lot and love, Ran."

Ran was beginning to wonder how Ken knew so much about this concept of love all of a sudden. From the way he had understood it when they first started going out, they were both taking things as they came along. Somehow, that had changed too. Ran wasn't caring much for this suspenseful conversation, so he stated bluntly, "What are you trying to say to me, Ken."

"I know you don't look for me anymore."

Ran blinked. "Nani?"

He barely felt Ken push away from him and get up. "I know your eyes are no longer on me. So why do this anymore? I don't know who you like, or maybe are _in love _with now..." Ken had tacked on that last one bitterly, "but I know that it isn't me. It hasn't been me for the longest time, and we both know it."

Ran felt his eyes refocus on Ken, and he felt a bit stunned. He felt even more frozen as Ken smiled the smile he had always reserved for Ran up until this point. The smile he had fallen in love with, now laced with something extra. Pain.

Still staring straight ahead, Ran barely felt Ken as the younger boy leaned over and hugged Ran tightly for one last time. "Ran..." Ken was laughing a bit happier now, "Ran...I don't want you to _pretend_ anymore. It's not good for me, and it's definetly not good for you."

Ran started to say something but Ken only hugged him tighter to silence him. "Ran, I love you. I will always love you, so very much," Ken paused for a moment as if contemplating how to continue, this was taking quite the toll on him.

"You know what comes after the beginning and middle of every story, right?" Ken managed to say finally after a few minutes of deafening silence.

Ran felt himself nod slowly. "The end..."

Ken was laughing softly. "Yes, Ran...and every story has an ending...it's not always a happy ending, but there definetly is an ending. Whether it's by death, or by a fight, or by something else..."

Ken pulled back and the two of them seemed to get absorbed in each others eyes. Ken smiled again, his smile seeming a bit brighter this time, as if he was finally coming to terms with what he was saying himself. "What I'm trying to say, Ran, is that this is the end. _Our _end. I have to admit, it's not the happiest of endings but...it's far better than the two of us getting deeper into this lie that we've set ourselves upon. I want us to break away from this, Ran. I want _you _to be _happy_."

Ran had nothing to say. Ken had cornered him well. He hadn't realized that Ken had a very good idea of what had been happening to their relationship. He had always thought he covered it so well. He too had been hoping that the distance would only merely be temporary, but they were only getting further and further apart.

He sighed a sigh of relief, and watched Ken's eyes widen slightly, and then laugh out loud, tears brimming his eyes again. "You feel better now, right?"

Ran refused to reply. He didn't want to hurt Ken. "It's okay, you know, Ran. I can handle this."

That was a lie and they both knew it. Or maybe it was just Ran who couldn't handle it. Ran who was filled with the pure disappointment. Maybe Ken had been ready for their time to end, and it was just Ran who had been blinded by the phrases "together forever" and "happily ever after."

Ran gave Ken a look that asked, "So where do we go from here?"

Ken held out a hand to Ran. "Well, first we go home. Then tomorrow, we act like best friends instead of lovers. It'll seem weird at first, even for Yoji and Omi, but they'll get used to it, just like we will."

Ran accepted Ken's hand and slowly got up, looking down at the younger boy. Ken looked like he was going to hug Ran, but his hands fell limply at his sides. It was Ran who made the move this time, crushing Ken towards him as a form of apology, an arm hugging tightly behind the back and his other hand pushing Ken's head to his chest, where Ken cried for a while, but he never reached up to hug Ran back.

After a while, they broke their embrace. They began walking back to the flower shop, side by side, silently. A few blocks before the shop, Ken asked Ran one last personal question with much care, as if he was trying hard not to offend Ran.

"Ran...?"

No response. Ken took this as an okay to ask his question. "Ran...who is it?"

He didn't have to elaborate. Ran sighed and found himself staring at the flower shop right across the street from them, straight at Omi, who was fixing up their shop front. Ken followed his gaze and half-smiled.

"Oh," was the last word Ken had spoken to Ran that day before they had crossed the street and returned to the flower shop.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Saiki.Kensuke.Yuuta: Okay! So ends the second chapter! The next chapter will be more RanOmi! It'll still be set in the past, leading up to the mission in the first chapter! Reviews would be most appreciated. Wish me luck if you can't think of anything to criticize. I think this is going to be one of those hit-or-miss fics! Actually, all of my fics are like that. Hah! But this is more so!

Hope to see you all next chapter!


	3. Abfahrt

Disclaimer & Warnings: Everything was listed in the first chapter. Oh yeah, Shounenai too. Forgot to list that the first time, LOL! Of course, you all probably knew that anyway.

Pairing: RanOmi and hints of a ShuKen (not yet one-sided).

Fic Note: Just a reminder, this chapter was also set in the past. Pretty AU here, a little ooc because I'm not completely solid on all of the characters. I'll need to do more research on this series later.

_**Abfahrt**_

Ken practiced his smile in front of a mirror. Not out of vanity, just out of self-assurance that he still could. He was getting really good at smiling for anything. Even when he cried, he could still manage a smile. Practice makes perfect.

He had started to do this only after seeing Ran and Omi hold hands for the first time when they were being assigned another mission by Persia. Omi was running into bad memories because of these recent missions, and Ran had taken it upon himself to comfort the chibi. Ken felt a twinge of jealousy, but moreso sadness. When Ran had comforted him, _he _had to always be the first one to go to Ran for support. Omi didn't even have to ask. Ran just gave him all the comfort voluntarily. The only thing that seemed to make up for this new relationship was the fact that Ran didn't allow Omi to call him by his real name. Omi was still to just use Aya or Abyssinian.

Omi still apologized to Ken, every single day. He had liked Ran for a long time and didn't hesitate when Ran presented him an opportunity to be together, but he always felt that he owed Ken something, while Ken insisted Omi owed him nothing. It was during this time Ken began to distance himself from Weiss. He had felt betrayed by a friend, broken away from his former lover, and wasn't even close enough to the playboy of the group to make him feel deeply rooted in Weiss. It was almost four months into Ran's new relationship when Ken realized he just wanted to call it quits. There was no reason to stay in Weiss anymore. He felt unloved, _unecessary_. He wasn't a good fighter, he wasn't even a graceful flower arranger.

All he seemed to be good for was his smile. In fact, he sometimes felt that his smile was _all _he was good for.

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Ken had thrown his bugnuks on the ground in front of the television set. All eyes were on him. Ken was breathing hard. "What is it, Siberian?" asked Persia.

He looked up at the television, determination in his eyes. "I quit."

This caused the room to fall silent. "You quit," Persia echoed simply.

Ken nodded. "Yes. I quit. I am done with Weiss."

Yoji snorted. "You can't just up and leave when you want to, Ken. You've killed too many. What are you expecting to do, live a normal life? You know none of us can go back to doing that ever again."

Ken glared at Yoji, then focused his attention back at the screen. "I want out. I'm not leaving because I want a normal life all of a sudden. I want to leave because no longer have a reason to be here."

Ran watched Ken silently, his hand gripping Omi's shoulder slightly tight. Omi was looking at Ken with wide eyes, and Yoji was just shaking his head in disapproval. Manx's eyes were focused on the screen, a hand on her hip, waiting to see what Persia would do. Persia paused for a moment. It was a while before Persia responded.

"All right Ken. You may go. Leave your weapon here."

Ken, shocked at first that he was being given permission, blinked. He then formed a half-smile. "Thank you...Persia..." he left his bugnuks on the ground and walked up the stairs out of the flower shop, without saying a good-bye or a final word to anyone.

Yoji's cigarette fell out of his mouth. "Persia! How was that fair?" he whined.

Ran only stared at Ken's bugnuks, where Ken had been only a second ago. Omi was leaning into him, as if he couldn't believe what just happened either. How easily Persia had released Ken from Weiss.

Yoji repeated his question, a bit more calmly. "Persia...you know we all want to quit having to murder people...but we all are supposed to be in this together. No one's supposed to be able to leave until Weiss' final mission has been implemented. This doesn't make any sense. Are you saying that if _we _really wanted to up and leave, that we just..._can_?"

Persia chuckled. "No, that is not the case."

Yoji was confused, "Then...? Why is Ken the exception?"

Persia leaned back in his chair. "Tell me, Balinese. Do you know how Ken came across Weiss?"

Yoji shook his head, "No, but how does that-"

Persia cut him off, "Hidaka was _chosen_. He was _forced in_, somewhat."

Yoji raised an eyebrow. "Why would you..."

Persia chuckled. "Weiss needed a little purity in the group to even things out. Siberian probably holds the most dirty feeling within himself compared to the rest of you, believe it or not. Siberian never had a reason to kill. His only mission was to _find _the man he ended up killing, Kase. He never wanted to kill Kase to begin with, and he never had a reason to kill prior or after he murdered Kase."

Yoji was silent now. Persia had the attention of him and the rest of Weiss. "You see...I gave him this position, telling him that he could find Kase, but he might have to get some blood on his hands in order to get to him. I asked him if he was willing to kill in order to see or save his friend. Siberian had replied that he would. I am not sure if he was ever quite ready to kill...but he's been doing it without much complaint. He is a dedicated friend."

There was a pause and the members of Weiss each shifted a bit uneasily in their positions. Persia continued, "So why did he stay in Weiss so long? Because the boy could have left a long time ago, that's a fact. But I believe he stayed so long because he felt that he had a home, a family here. He had a reason to stay. He felt that he was just as cursed as the rest of you, and that he could relate to the lot of you because he has also killed. But I'm sure you've all noticed the difference, especially when he fights."

Yoji had been ready to argue on some of Persia's points, but now he found that Persia was touching all bases of his arguments, refuting them. "Siberian had no _anger _behind his murders. Even in Kase's case, it was probably out of will to survive. He plays off of survival, not anger. He has everything to lose, while the rest of you do not. You all can put everything you have, and you would not regret your own deaths. Siberian, however, is a different case."

"But why let him go so easily...?" Yoji questioned.

"Don't you think he deserved that much? He killed for _Weiss_. He goes to missions with the rest of you to _make sure you all don't get killed_. Because Weiss was all Siberian had anymore. I think today, he just decided he's even lost that reason. He deserves to go out into the world, and find a new reason. He has blood on his hands, but he has the time and room to change. His path is not yet set in stone."

Yoji clenched his fists. He didn't even understand why he was feeling so strongly on the subject. Maybe he was jealous because some days he just wanted to up and quit himself. Maybe it was because he didn't want to lose Ken, a feeling that was mutual among everyone involved with Weiss. "It still shouldn't be this easy..."

"I'm sorry you feel that way. If you don't understand by now, there is no reason to try explaining any further. We do not have time to go over this situation all day. It is time now, to get started on your mission. Put the situation behind you as best you can. Siberian left. Siberian is not expected to return. Missions will be done without the aid of Siberian. End transmission."

The T.V. clicked off and the information was given time to settle into the minds of the remaining assassins. Ran was the first to move. He got up as calmly as he could, and took the latest paperwork from Manx. The other two Weiss followed Ran wordlessly.

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When Ken had come out of the flower shop, he looked around the quiet and empty streets. Though he still had his motorcycle, he had never felt so alone and cold in his life. _"Well well, what do we have here? A stray cat," _a mocking voice surfaced in Ken's thoughts.

Ken looked around, on-edge. He _knew _that voice. Just as he suspected, Shuldich popped out from a dark corner. "Shuldich..." Ken growled.

Shuldich looked very amused. He walked over to Ken and lifted Ken's chin up with his hand. He clicked his tongue in amusement and raised an eyebrow. _"What is this?" _Shuldich's mocking voice was once again in his head, _"Kitty got thrown out of Weiss?"_

Ken tried to push Shuldich away, but his grip only got tighter as a flicker of amusement suddenly lit up in the German's eyes. _"Ah! I see now! Your thoughts are now loud and clear. The kitty got tired of Weiss and left! Haha! And I thought all the little kittens were dead-set against sticking together. Looks like there's a break in the friendship circle."_

Now that he finally heard the fact again from someone else, from _enemy lines_, Ken felt relief, and a huge sense of emptiness. Shuldich smirked, playing off of Ken's feelings. _"Hmhm. Guess that means you're just a normal kitty now. We won't need to kill you anymore. You're already dead!" _

He was right, Ken felt he died the minute he left Weiss, but somehow he didn't want to go back, not yet anyway-if at all. He wanted to try this out for a while, living _normally_. Shuldich smirked, leaning uncomfortably close to Ken. "I could _help _you, you know..." Shuldich whispered in Ken's ear.

At those words, Ken suddenly found himself remembering Ran. He flinched away. Shuldich caught most of Ken's thought and laughed, amused. _"So kitty's got a broken heart too? This day is just full of surprises, isn't it? Don't worry kitten, I don't plan on hurting you like that Weiss bastard did."_

Ken gave Shuldich a skeptical look. Shuldich shrugged. _"Well, if you don't even want to try, then it's of no loss to me. You'll be the one missing out."_

Ken bit his lower lip. Shuldich grinned. _"C'mon kitty. How about it? What is there to lose? Come with me, and you can forget about Weiss and the stupid bastard you left behind. Hey! I'll even be nice and keep you from Bradley and the others," _Ken felt Shuldich chuckle in his head after he mocked Crawford, _"You won't even have to kill again, kitty. You'll just be a normal person who just happens to be friends with an assassin. You can even pretend you don't know who I am. We could have just met for the first time. Today."_

Shuldich waited for Ken to decide. He was sure the boy would come crawling to him anyway, in his confused state. Shuldich wanted to have some fun with Ken while he was this vulnerable. He felt that it would prove _interesting_. He put on the best look of concern he could muster.

Ken looked up at Shuldich. For once, the German looked genuine enough about helping him. The offer _did _seem enticing. Ken found himself flashing a small smile and nodding slowly in agreement. He would go with the German, and he would see where life would take him. The German smirked back at him. "All right then, kitty," he spoke, "You meet me..."

Shuldich paused for a moment as he searched through Ken's mind for something. "All right. Tomorrow. Meet me at your favorite soccer field, 3pm sharp. Don't be late."

And with that, he disappeared with an even more confused Ken. If Ken had heard correctly, Shuldich had been asking him to meet at his _favorite _soccer field. If Shuldich was talking about his all time favorite field, that would be the stadium where he had used to practice with Kase all the time, and where Ran liked to watch him play. Ken sighed. The men in his life sure had a knack of picking same exact painful place to meet.

Taking in a deep breath, he put on his helmet and cycled towards the apartment he lived in when he wasn't at the shop or doing assassin work.

Five minutes later, the rest of Weiss would come out of the shop to go take care of business without him.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Saiki.Kensuke.Yuuta: Okay...next chapter is more RanOmi, and a bit of a twist on this ShuKen one-sided idea. But that's the only preview I'm giving you guys! Just stick around for the next installment, guys! I don't even think we're halfway there yet, so let's see how this rolls!

Reviews would be greatly appreciated! I'm really curious about what you all think so far!


	4. Versuch

Author's Note: To** Whisper Reilman**, LOL! I'm SO glad you caught onto that! Hopefully this chapter makes up for that, I didn't have much time to elaborate on that chapter. I share this computer with about five other people, so I have a two hour limit per chapter every day. I still try my best to make everything top quality, however.

I think I'm developing a tiny-TINY fanclub for my writings. That's so encouraging! **I appreciate each and every one of you readers SO MUCH. I wish there was more ways I could express this effectively.**

Thank you for your reviews everyone! I was sooo worried that this story was a terrible one. Those reviews really reassure me. All right, moving on!

Disclaimer & Warnings: Everything was listed in the first two chapters.

Pairing: RanOmi and a developing ShuKen, but pay attention to these pairings from now on because it's going to get a bit more confusing from here on out.

Fic Note: Same reminder as last chapter. Check the fic note there if you're not certain what I'm talking about. Looks like this fic is going to go on a little while longer! Hope people enjoy this!

Oh yeah, found about two spelling errors in the first three chapters that were bugging the life out of me, so I'll be sure to replace those chapters with the minor adjustments included soon. Hah, I'm sooo weird sometimes. I'm sure all my readers have forgiven my small errors already but...I refuse to forgive my own errors! Hahaha! Ahem, anyway, onward we go!

_**Versuch**_

By the time he woke up it was a while into the afternoon. Ken looked at the clock with a tired eye. It was 2:45pm. He had fifteen minutes until he had promised to meet the German telepath, but he wasn't feeling very up to it. In fact, he had no idea why he had even agreed to it in the first place. It was truly a ridiculous proposition. He had just been confused the night before. Yoji used to always mock him for poor judgement, but this current situation was making Ken start to agree with the playboy's statement. How _stupid _could he have been to agree to showing up to a random meeting with his _enemy_ at his favorite soccer field? And to do what exactly, Ken wasn't even sure of either.

So at 3pm sharp, Ken had decided. He was going to remain asleep in his comfortable bed, and sulk by himself about everything currently going on in his life. He was planning to sulk about the fact that Ran was happy with Omi, he had left Weiss, and not being able to find his soccer ball last night, when he felt a presence in the room. He peeked out of his covers and looked around, but strangely there was no one there. He felt himself get a chill down his spine and buried himself under his blankets.

That was when he heard the amused laughter loud and clear in his head. Ken cringed as the smooth German's voice snaked it's way into his mind. _"Tch. So kitty decided to camp out here, hm?"_

Ken growled. _"Get out of my head, Schuldich!"_

The German only laughed. _"Make me."_

Ken grumbled and attempted to push Schuldich out, but he didn't even know where to begin. He groaned out of exasperation. _"How did you even find me, anyway? No one is supposed to know I'm here..." _Ken tagged the last part on as an afterthought.

Schuldich snorted. _"Schwarz has many ways of finding people. Finding your house is nothing compared to the bases we have to find. Besides, how stupid can a Weiss kitten be? You used your real name for this house."_

Ken groaned again. He should've known better. The German continued, _"Now, do tell me why you decided not to follow our agreement?"_

_"Because I changed my mind,"_ Ken snapped.

The German clucked his tongue. _"I'm afraid changing minds isn't an option. And I'm afraid you still have the same mind, pet," _the German laughed at his own lame joke.

Ken rolled his eyes. _"Well, you can't make me come with you, so I'm staying right here."_

_"Hm...as I said before, I don't believe that was an option."_

_"Well, you can't make me come out! What do you want with me, anyway?"_

_"Why Siberian!" _Schuldich said in a mock-hurt tone, _"Today was supposed to be our first date!"_

Ken sighed. _"Yeah, as if I'd believe that coming from the enemy."_

_"Correction. I am no longer your enemy because you have left Weiss."_

_"Whatever. Makes no difference to me."_

_"You really aren't going to come."_

_"That's what I said."_

_"Hm...I didn't want to be this unconventional but..."_

_"Hey! Don't you dare try to break down my door!"_

_"Oh no, Ken. I wasn't thinking of that," _Schuldich chuckled, _"Though now that you gave me the idea..."_

Ken cursed inwardly. _"But I won't. I have something better in mind."_

Ken opened his eyes slightly underneath his covers. He didn't like the sound of that. Suddenly, everything went quiet. Ken curled up into a tighter ball. _"Schuldich...? Schuldich...?"_

Out of nowhere, it was like someone struck a million bullets into Ken's head. Suddenly he was hearing all the thoughts of the people in the whole apartment complex. It was killing his head. He was hearing babies cry, men watching football, women talking about what they should wear for that night, and so on and so forth.

_"Stop!" _Ken screamed.

_"Hn...will kitty open the door for me?"_

_"No! But make it stop!"_

_"Hm...I'm afraid I can't help you there then, kitty."_

_"No! Okay! I'll come, I'll come! Just make it stop, you psycho German!"_

Schuldich chuckled. _"As you wish, kitten."_

When the sounds subsided, Ken blinked a few times to clear his vision. Then he realized he was leaning on something, or rather, _someone_. He looked up slowly to see a smirking Schuldich. _"So nice of you to let me come in, during all of that confusion."_

Ken growled. Not only had Schuldich given him the worst headache ever, he also had forced Ken to somehow open the door for him in the process. Schuldich looked down at the younger boy, amused. _"So. Shall we go then?"_

_"Whatever..."_

Schuldich smirked. _"Great. First we'll get you to wear something decent. Then we'll get something to eat. Then, we'll do whatever you want for a while."_

Ken barely nodded before Schuldich dragged Ken outside the room, locking the door behind them.

------------------------------------------------

Ran and Omi had been very quiet. Yoji was on a silent rampage. Even the girls didn't dare go near the playboy at the flower shop today. It was apparent Yoji wasn't in a good mood since their latest mission the night before. Ran had gotten a nasty gash on the back of his shoulder, something that wouldn't have happened if Ken had probably been there to block the enemy blow from behind and probably get scratched himself before killing the enemy.

Omi had recieved several bruises on his stomach, which Ken could probably have prevented while Omi took the fatal shots against the enemy. As for Yoji? Yoji's own weapon had been used against him, and it had taken almost too long for Ran to have figured that out and sliced Yoji free a little too late, causing him to pass out on the ground.

In general, the mission had been a success, but the three Weiss members didn't realize how necessary Ken had been to their missions until last night. Ran and Omi were still under slight shock, but Yoji was taking the situation a completely different way. He was even more bitter at Ken's leaving than he had been last night. Now he was ready to kill Ken, or the next Ken look-alike that came through the door.

A few hours into the late afternoon, the store was mostly deserted because the girls all had to go to their homes. Ran and Omi had been fixing up the storefront together, Ran was spraying the hose towards Omi's direction, and Omi was giggling, trying to block the all the water and failing. Yoji had been watering the plants inside the store when they all saw him. They could barely recognize him because he seemed to radiate. Ken was across the street, with some other man that was too far away for them to tell, and he looked-happy.

Ran's hand fell with the hose, and let the water flow to the dry pavement, causing it to turn a dark shade of brown. Omi was frozen in his hand-block position, following Ran's gaze, letting his jaw drop slightly as he saw Ken. Yoji had dropped the now empty watercan to the ground without realizing it, his hands firmly at his sides. He was angry. Angry that Ken had dared come around this corner of the city again, and angry that he appeared happy. How _dare _Ken be happy, Yoji thought, when Ken had killed so many? He made no move, however, to interrupt Ken's happiness. For some reason, Yoji wanted to do something to Ken, but he couldn't seem to force himself to move. Still, the other man Ken was with struck something strange in Yoji. He was sure he knew the other person Ken was with, but he couldn't tell for sure.

Ran felt a twinge of jealousy as he watched Ken go around the corner. He recognized Ken's smile. The same smile he had fallen in love with, and the same smile that had told him that it was all over, that Ken was onto his game, and that Ran should just go be with Omi to be happy. He grabbed Omi's arm firmly when the younger boy tried to chase after Ken. Ran shook his head when Omi looked at him with big round eyes.

"Aya...can't we go after him, _please_?"

Ran sighed. "Omi...we can't. He is no longer Weiss. That is the path that Ken chose. We have nothing to do with him...anymore."

"But _Aya_...!"

"Persia...Persia said to leave him alone. Just let him go...Omi..." and as if to make his statement final, Ran put an arm around Omi's shoulder and pushed him inside the shop.

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Ken had been very reluctant and skeptical about this "date" at first, but things weren't going so badly now. After fighting with Schuldich for the first couple hours of their time together, Schuldich had proved not to be such a bad person. From what Ken could tell, anyway. They had gone through a couple fancy outfits in the stores that Ken didn't approve of, and eventually after annoying Schuldich to death, they settled on a simple outfit for Ken that didn't scream of sports.

It was mostly a neutral unisex outfit, that seemed to bring out Ken's inner child. He had settled for a white turtleneck shirt and blue jean-colored overalls. Schuldich didn't approve at first, but bought the outfit anyway. The style seemed to grow on him as the day went by, however. Schuldich had planned for the day to go by with a ton of fighting, and humiliating Ken to no end. Yet somehow, here they were, strolling through the busy city streets with Schuldich barely listening to what Ken was saying, and Ken happily eating his ice cream.

Ken tugged on Schuldich's sleeve. That annoyed Schuldich. Somehow, he had gotten from being Ken's worst enemy to Ken's best friend in the whole world. "Schu!"

Schuldich groaned inwardly. The boy was even calling him nicknames now. "What!" he snapped.

Ken only smiled at him. "Let's go watch a movie before the theater closes, okay?"

Schuldich wanted to badly to slap his forehead, and slap Ken on the back of the head. He had tried to be nice to Ken only to hurt Ken later. So far, he was failing in his smooth transition. "No. I don't think so."

Ken laughed. "C'mon, Schu, _please_...?"

The brunette seemed to be _enjoying _his time with Schuldich. This was _not _what the psychic had planned. It was starting to annoy him very much. He tried annoying Ken again, but Ken seemed to be less and less irritated by Schuldich's attempts. The game was losing its fun.

That was when Schuldich suggested walking Ken home. When he saw Ken blush, he was confused. He decided to ignore Ken's reaction and start walking back towards Ken's apartment, grumbling inwardly all the while, miserable that his plan had backfired.

------------------------------------------------

Ken had never felt so relaxed in the longest time. It was ironic, how his worst enemy was the one to comfort him the most during his time of turmoil. The arguments that they had gotten in that day had released a lot of Ken's stress. They had argued over everything from clothing choice to what type of restaraunt they would go to, to what Ken and Schuldich were going to do when it was Ken's turn to decide the activity.

Over time, Ken realized the German was softening up for him. He began to forget why he was even with the German, and why he had not wanted to come out with the older man in the first place, but then he realized that he no longer cared. All he knew was he hadn't felt this happy since his break with Ran, and he felt that nothing-not even Schuldich's attempts to douse his day, would succeed in bringing him down now. He was just too happy.

He barely noticed when the passed by the Weiss flower shop, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Ran and Omi having their fun, and he fell silent. His mood was still chipper, but he felt a twinge of hurt as he passed by the place. Schuldich didn't hesitate to take this opportunity.

"Well, that was _great,_" Schuldich started sarcastically, "But I honestly think it's time to send the little ex-Weiss kitten home now."

Ken's eyes grew round with disappointment as he looked up at Schuldich. He didn't want to go home, not yet, and maybe not ever. He had been enjoying the German psychic's company, surprisingly enough, very much. "Do we have to go now?"

Schuldich snorted. "What's with this _we _business? You don't expect me to take you home, do you?"

Ken looked away at that point. _Of course _Schuldich wasn't going to take him home. Schuldich probably still considered him an enemy. Shuldich surprised him, however. "All right, all _right_. I'll walk you home. Let's go."

Ken had looked up at Schuldich then, with probably the biggest blush on his face. He tried to hide it, but he was sure Schuldich had seen it. The German had the decency not to mock him for it, however, Ken mentally noted. The way back to Ken's house had been very quiet.

When they reached the door, Schuldich immediately turned to leave. Ken quickly grabbed for Schuldich's sleeve, missed, and ended up grabbing the psychic's hand instead. Ken's cold hand was warmed by Schuldich's. He felt the German freeze. Ken squeezed the German's hand slightly. "Will we be able to do this tomorrow...?"

Schuldich didn't respond at first, but then he burst out into laughter. Ken was confused and was about to let go of Schuldich's hand and run into his house, fearing a mistake when Schuldich turned swiftly and pinned Ken to the wall. Schuldich was now leaning unbearably close. Ken felt his face flush more. Schuldich's voice snaked its way into Ken's mind. _"So...kitten liked our little playdate?"_

Ken blushed harder and tried to look away, but there was something striking in the German's gaze, causing him to be transfixed by it. He nodded slowly. Schuldich closed his eyes and chuckled. _"Well, at least one of us had some kind of fun."_

Ken's eyes widened slightly. Schuldich didn't enjoy one bit of their time together? Then what was with all of the kindness and the smiling? Schuldich caught Ken's thoughts and laughed even more. _"All part of the game plan, pet."_

Ken didn't understand, and part of him didn't even care to understand, but Schuldich continued anyway. _"You see, kitten...today meant nothing to me. Absolutely nothing. For you, it may have been the best time of your life. For me, it was pure torture, but now is my chance to have a little fun."_

Schuldich bent down and kissed Ken on the mouth, and Ken let Schuldich in, small hope still burning within him. Schuldich pulled away and bent to Ken's ear and spoke normally. "Now...I bet you want me to tell you how much I've suddenly fallen in love with you, and that we should see each other again and be together forever, right?"

Ken bit his lower lip, hoping that this was the case. Schuldich chuckled and pushed away from Ken. "You've got to be kidding me, kitten. No one would want to be with someone as boring as you, and I mean _no one_."

Ken's eyes widened slightly. He should've seen this coming. The lies that Schuldich had spouted yesterday had been so obvious, yet he had still slightly fallen for it, hoping that Schuldich had been singing strains of truth when he claimed that he wouldn't hurt Ken like Ran had. Schuldich laughed as Ken found himself slumping slowly down to the ground. _"Sorry to disappoint you, kitten. You didn't do anything to make me fall in love or anything."_

Ken watched with a blank stare as Schuldich walked away. He didn't remember when it was or how he did it, but after a couple of hours he finally managed to go inside his apartment and flopped onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. A new anger was stirring within him. He couldn't believe that in such a short time he had managed to let his guard most of the way down just because someone was offering him soothing happiness. He realized how quickly that happiness could be taken away from him. Yoji had been right after all. Somehow, no matter if any of them left Weiss or not, they would forever be bound to the bad side of Lady Luck. They just weren't allowed perfect happiness. All Ken wanted was a special someone to call his own, but this was the third time he was crushed of that hope. First Kase, then Ran, and now his own enemy, _Schuldich_. The German's name made him feel sicker than ever. Ken closed his eyes and a picture of his bugnuks hanging in the air with blood dripping off them came into view. _Schuldich's blood_. He would have Schuldich pay for playing with him like this. There was only two things that made Ken genuinely angry. If someone messed with his soccer things, or if someone messed with his heart.

This anger had been building up in Ken a while now. The blows toward his heart were too painful. This was the last straw. Ken got up slowly, and fished out his old Weiss outfit out from his closet, the only thing of Weiss he had taken back to his home with him. He took his motorcycle helmet and got ready to get out of the house.

------------------------------------------------

Schuldich smiled to himself. He had been so worried that he wouldn't have had a chance to have his fun with the ex-Weiss member, but he had finally managed to chuck that last emotional blow in. Though as he was heading towards the Schwarz base, the joy in his stride seemed to fade. He was having second thoughts about his actions. He was remembering the smile that Ken had been flashing him all day and compared it to Ken's final reaction and suddenly found himself subtly preferring the former expression off the brunette. Schuldich frowned as he found his car and hopped in, speeding off towards the base and letting his thoughts bother him the whole way there, making him wonder what it all meant.

------------------------------------------------

Persia and Manx had just finished briefing the three members of Weiss of their next mission. Manx had left the building through the backway in the basement. Ran was silently looking over the file, half-smiling as he felt Omi's chin rest on his shoulder. He put a hand behind the chibi's neck and rubbed it absentmindedly while trying to concentrate on the file. Yoji was stretching, getting ready for a late night date before their next mission, which was to be implemented the next night.

Ran lost his focus when he heard footsteps from above. How someone managed to get into the flower shop, he could only guess. Omi and Yoji heard the steps as they got closer to the stairs, and soon all three of them were on their guard, in their attack-ready stances. Omi held his breath and took a step back as a shadow suddenly sprinted down the stairs and was hunched over. All of them were prepared to attack as the shadowed figure before them was breathing hard.

Yoji was the first to find his voice. "Who are you?"

The figure was hunched over in a familiar way that none of them could quite place just yet. Suddenly they heard a familiar laugh, a laugh they used to hear constantly during their fights. It wasn't a happy laugh, more of a sarcastically amused kind. The figure slowly lifted its head, two brown orbs expressing something indescribable, looking almost lethal through brown bangs.

Ran dropped his weapon, and Omi gasped. "Ken-kun...?" he whispered.

Yoji lowered his weapon but glared at Ken. "What are _you _doing back here? I thought you were happy to leave," he sneered, but he was a bit happy that Ken had come back.

Ken half-smiled. "Where is my weapon?"

No one moved. Everyone just stared at Ken silently. Ken advanced slowly, his advances a bit lopsided and shaky, as if he was going to explode with anger or perhaps something else. "Where...is...my..._weapon_?"

Omi was the first to knock into his senses and gave a shaky smile. "Um...why would you need it, Ken-kun...?"

Ken stopped where he was, and bent over slightly, his body shaking with amused laughter. Why he was amused, no one could tell. He looked up and gave a sideways glance to Omi. "Well, isn't it obvious? I've tried quitting Weiss, and realized that is impossible. Yoji...was right, of course," he gave Yoji a bitter glance as he said the last bit before returning his gaze to Omi, "So I've come back. I have a new reason to be here."

Yoji raised an eyebrow. Ran gripped his blade, in case Ken decided to do something rash. There was something wrong with this Ken. "So what is your reason then?" Yoji asked.

Ken looked at Yoji and laughed, "The same reason as all of yours. _Eliminate _Schwarz. I'm gettings so _sick _of those bastards."

They all regarded Ken silently for a moment, wondering what brought this sudden hate of Schwarz into Ken. Yoji's eyes snapped wide a bit in sudden realization. The man from earlier that he thought he knew must have been someone from Schwarz. Perhaps the sadistic German? Or maybe the soft-spoken Nagi. It was hard to tell. Yoji was willing to bet on the German, though. Crawford was too serious to get involved with the enemy on such a friendly basis, and Farfarello was just too crazy to look or appear normal beside anyone in public. Nagi probably wouldn't have a reason to look for Ken either. Only the German would be crazy enough to play with Ken during his time of vulnerability. Something must have happened, therefore, between the German and the soccer-player, Yoji decided. If Ken didn't seem so serious, Yoji probably would have laughed. It was as if he was seeing one of his dates dramas unfold before him. The girl who gets played by everyone. Except Ken wasn't a girl. And Ken wasn't one of Yoji's dates either.

Yoji moved slowly to a backroom and came back out a few minutes later and tossed the bugnuks at Ken's feet. Ken looked at his weapon, and then looked up at Yoji with an unreadable expression. Yoji smirked. "Well? There's your weapon. So now what?"

Ran and Omi both looked between the playboy and the soccer player. Ken leaned forward and slipped on his bugnuks with ease, as if he had never left the assassin group in the first place. He looked up and half-smiled again. "So. What's our next mission?"

Ken had chosen. He was Weiss, and it would always be that way. Nothing could change that fact anymore.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Saiki.Kensuke.Yuuta: Man, that was a looong chapter, wasn't it guys? Next chapter's going to be a new twist in this developing SchuKen, and I'm going to try to put in a little more RanOmi. I tried to put in a lot this chapter, and I guess my muse was just not feeling it today.

Reviews would be greatly appreciated as usual! Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up later tonight!


	5. Spät

Author's Note: As usual, I'd really appreciate any and all reviews! As long as they hold constructiveness.

**Special Thanks to Sachiko V, Whisper Reilman, and Comtess for constantly keeping up with this story and reviewing it! **It's always encouraging to see that I've got a few readers hooked and coming back for more.

In other news, I'm finding it sooo amusing that even though this fic is already 4 chapters long, it's still shorter than my two-chaptered fic, _Restitution_ (That's a SchuKen, btw.) Maybe this chapter will throw it over the other fic. I'll be laughing if it still doesn't beat the other fic though! Haha, I'm so easily amused. It's just, these chapters seem sooo long to me, I can't believe it's still like, 2000 words short of the fic that I thought appeared so much shorter than this one.

Disclaimer & Warnings: Everything was listed in the first two chapters.

Pairing: RanOmi and twist in the one-sided SchuKen. Oh yeah, Omi+Ken friendship here too.

Fic Note: Going to fix the small minor errors in the other chapters soon. Probably after this fic is done, I'll read it over several times and fix whatever needs fine-tuning. After that, probably won't touch this fic too much more, I'll be moving on to my next project. I'm thinking about another Weiss fic before moving on to a different fandom for a while. I'm planning on a Fruit's Basket and Gundam fic soon, so look out for me there, I'll probably hit those places soon!

Oh yeah, this chapter is going to seem a bit shorter than the other ones. I didn't have a whole lot to place in here. Sorry to disappoint!

_**Spät**_

Omi found Ken lying on the couch in the basement of the flower shop. His figure was barely visible to Omi because it was so dark and there was barely any light pollution where they were, but he knew that Siberian was there. The other Weiss boys had gone to their respective homes, but Omi had returned to their meeting place in order to get a small head start on their latest mission. He tried to creep by the boy quietly, but then found out that Ken was awake.

"Omi...?"

Omi jumped slightly, he wasn't expecting Ken to be awake. "Um...yes, Ken-kun?" the chibi didn't want to upset Ken since he seemed to be in an emotional crisis since his break with Ran.

He heard Ken chuckle. "Does he make you happy?"

Omi blinked. "You mean Aya?"

Ken didn't respond for a moment, and then remembered that he had been the only one of the boys to call him _Ran_. "Yeah..._Aya_..." his voice sounded distant.

The chibi gulped nervously, careful about his response. Ken was like a great big brother to him. At the moment, their relationship was more like one of those asian dramas where the older sibling gives up their love so the younger sibling and the former lover could be happy. Which meant the chibi was in shallow water right now, and he needed to tread as lightly as possible so as not to anger his friend.

He heard Ken laugh again, but this time more resigned. "It's okay...Omi. I just...I just want to know if you guys make each other happy?"

Omi blushed. Ran really did make him very happy. Omi turned and nodded to the darkness, not sure if Ken could see him or not. "Yes...he does..."

He heard Ken turn over where he was in his place and heard Ken's tired voice. "That's good...I'm glad...thank you..."

Omi blinked. Why was Ken thanking him? "Um...Ken-kun...?"

Ken answered the unspoken question. "Omi...thank you for bringing his smile back...he looks much better now..."

Omi was flattered and surprised that Ken hadn't chewed his head off, but he was also very relieved. Perhaps Ken was going to forgive them all and things were going to go back to normal after all. He settled into his chair in front of the computer as he heard Ken softly snoring in the dark. He found he couldn't concentrate, however, and ended up turning off the computer and reminiscing of the past while sitting in the dark. Somewhere during that time, he fell asleep.

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_It was the exact date of Ken's break with Ran. Ken had come back to the store late in the afternoon with his hand in Ran's. Omi was in a bit of a jealous mood and didn't really feel like talking to either of the boys. This usually happened when Ken came at the same time as Ran. He didn't have hard feelings against either of them, but he couldn't help but feel a small twinge of jealousy for Ken, since he had the position that Omi so desperately wanted._

_Ken had walked up to Omi just then, and asked him to help take out the garbage with him. For some reason, Omi's small jealousy vanished. It was just something Ken happened to cause in all of them. Any negative feeling against Ken just couldn't last long. Ken was an easily forgiving person, and in turn, it caused all of the Weiss boys to be just as forgiving for Ken. Omi followed him outside to take the trash out with Ken. Omi felt Ran's gaze on them both, and he pretended that Ran's gaze was entirely on him. He was right for the most part._

_Omi threw his three trash bags into the large trash container. Ken threw his bags in and seemed to hesitate at the container, his hands leaning against the wall of the large rectangular container. Omi looked at Ken questioningly._

_"Ken-kun? Are you all right? Are you sick...?"_

_Ken had smiled a smile that sent eerie chills down Omi's spine. It was friendly, but it seemed kind of pained, like Ken was trying not to lose his temper or something. Omi waited patiently, waiting for an explosion. It came, but it wasn't the kind of explosion Omi had been expecting. One minute Ken had been smiling at him, the next minute he was crumpled on the ground with his face in his hands, crying._

_Shocked, Omi quickly bent down beside Ken and gripped the ex-soccer player's shoulders, shaking him slightly. "Ken-kun! Ken-kun! What's wrong?"_

_Ken's tear-stained face looked Omi straight in the eyes and it seemed to strike a small blow inside Omi. Ken's gaze was so clear, so honest. He wasn't guarding a single pained emotion from Omi. Omi tried his best to shoot a reassuring smile at Ken, but he wasn't sure how to handle this side of Ken. Ken was known for being emotional, but never this emotional. "Ken-kun, please tell me!"_

_Ken's mouth moved without any sounds coming out for a few moments, but then he finally found his voice. He hugged Omi in a crushing embrace, surprising the chibi even more. "Omi..." he whispered._

_Omi lowered his voice into something as soothing as possible, trying to hide the panic in his voice. He was debating in his head whether or not to call Ran, but what Ken said next labeled that option completely out of the question. "We're through...Omi..."_

_Omi was confused. "Through...? Who's through, Ken?"_

_Ken swallowed, but failed to calm himself. He started shaking against the smaller boy's body. "Aya...and me...we're over..." Ken had almost said Ran, but no one knew that he called Ran that. _

_Omi thought he was going to be sick. First of all, it didn't make sense. Ran had been holding hands with Ken when they had come in. Sure they had been particularly quiet when they had come in, but Omi just thought they had some kind of relaxing day or something. Omi was starting to feel bad for his feelings of jealousy from earlier. Now was not the time to be jealous of Ken at all. _

_"But Ken-kun...! You two were so close what happ-"_

_Ken hugged Omi tighter, which silenced the chibi. Ken was always good at that. Communicating well with his actions. Right now his hugging clearly stated "shut up."_

_Omi stared at Ken silently as he pulled back and patted Omi's shoulders playfully with his hands. He was laughing, but the tears were still coming. "Omi...good luck, okay?"_

_Omi didn't get it. He blinked. "Uh...Ken-kun...?"_

_Ken didn't even explain. He wiped his tears and ruffled Omi's hair and winked. "Your...turn," was all Ken said before he walked back into the flower shop, leaving behind a very confused Omi to contemplate to himself a while before he himself went back inside._

_After that, things seemed to work in fast motion. Ran had asked him out on a casual date, and that casual date turned into continuous late night meetings. They were well into the relationship when Ken had suddenly decided to leave. Omi had felt his heart stop when Ken had thrown his bugnuks to the ground. Ken had threatened to leave several times before, but that night he had seriously meant it and gone. Now Ken was back. He wasn't sure how he could handle the guilt if Ken decided to leave again because he felt he didn't have a place in Weiss._

"Omi-kun!" Omi jolted awake as he felt someone shaking his shoulder.

It was Ken with a toothbrush in his mouth, hair wet, towel around his neck, and in his soccer gear. He was smiling. "Time to wake up, chibi."

Omi smiled a small smile of relief and nodded. It seemed as if things had a chance of going back to normal again. "Thank you, Ken-kun..."

Ken laughed. "Don't be late," he paused for a moment, "_Aya_ wouldn't be too happy if you were late for opening up shop...you know?"

Omi barely felt himself nod. "Yeah...I'll be there soon!"

Ken smiled one of his more mature and serious looking smiles. "Good. See you soon."

Omi watched silently as his friend walked up the stairs. He really admired Ken sometimes.

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Weiss was four again. That was how they were when Manx and Persia greeted them again the next night. Neither seemed too terribly surprised, though Manx was a bit shocked that Ken had actually come back. Though Persia had reassured her that Ken would probably eventually return, she had slightly doubted the man, and now felt a bit guilty for that doubt. She should have trusted Persia's judgement a bit more.

"Welcome back, Siberian," was all Persia said before he began going over the mission for that night once more.

Ken only nodded in response and appeared the most ready for their latest mission. They were to infiltrate a Esstet base, and completely destroy their latest human control project. This meant that Schwarz was most likely going to be there to look over things. To everyone's slight surprise after Persia signed off, Ken had been the first to take the file instead of Ran, and began looking over it intently. Ken had seemed to undergo an odd change overnight. The old Ken came back for a moment however, when he handed the file over to Ran and mumbled about not being able to understand those high-tech things. This caused all of them to laugh a little, and a small smile even formed on Ken's own face out of embarassment. It was good to have Ken back, no matter how strange he was acting now.

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Schwarz was waiting for Weiss to appear to try and interrupt things at the Esstet base. Crawford was already prepared, he foresaw Weiss appearing in about fifteen minutes. Nagi was waiting calmly in a corner, arms crossed. Farfarello was licking his blade as usual, tasting the coppery taste of his blood in his mouth happily. Schuldich on the other hand was the least focused this mission. His mind kept wandering to the brunette and it frustrated him. He had played his game through, hadn't he? He had made the ex-assassin fall for his fake affections, and then twisted the knife in the boy's back, figuratively speaking. Yet he didn't understand why he felt so guilty just now. Somehow, while he was still remembering the smiles Ken had given and his looks of shock and betrayal, Schuldich realized that the brunette had gone under his skin a little somehow. Not enough to throw him overboard into a totally different phase of life, but it did cause a small bit of confusion.

He couldn't ponder it for long, however. As Crawford had predicted, two of the Weiss members had already entered the building and were being caught on a well-hidden camera. Schuldich's eyes widened in slight shock as he recognized the shadow of Ken and his bugnuks rounding the corner. _"What could the kitten be doing here for," _Schuldich wondered, _"I thought he quit."_

_"Apparently not," _Crawford's voice snapped in his mind, _"Now hurry up and let's go. You're holding everyone up today. We don't have time for hindrances."_

Schuldich glared at Crawford and followed the rest of Schwarz out of the secret room out to confront Weiss.

------------------------------------------------

"All right. Here's the plan. Bombay and I will take care of demolishing the project. Balinese, you and Siberian take care of Schwarz. We will be with you all as soon as we can to help you both."

Normally, Ran's idea of constantly splitting them off so he was with Omi would bother Ken, but today he was all business. Ken wanted to feel the blood of the crazy German on his hands. Before any more words could be exchanged, Ken shot off to look for Schwarz, causing Yoji to stare a moment in wonder and then come to his senses and chase Ken down before he did anything stupid.

Ran and Omi watched the two go off for a moment before rushing off to where they had to be.

------------------------------------------------

It took Ran and Omi a couple hours to find the right room. In the meantime they had killed over fifty people in the process of finding the right place. They crept into the laboratory only to find the place completely deserted of everything save for a few stray papers and unfinished experiments.

"What is this?" Omi hissed.

Ran gave no reply. He was a bit confused to. He had been so certain that there would have been something here waiting for them. He didn't understand. Suddenly, the room lit up like it was Christmas. The two were now back-to-back, trying to regain focus on the room. The light had been blinding. They were suddenly attacked from all sides as they heard women's laughter. Ran and Omi fought blindly back and their visions began to clear and they were able to better make out their targets.

Their targets recoiled back and Omi and Ran were shocked. They were expecting only Schwarz to be guarding the goods, but they weren't expecting the girl assassin group, _Schriedent _to be involved in this either. That confirmed it. They were hiding some very important stuff. One of the girls chuckled. "Were you expecting something here?"

Ran and Omi were assessing where they were going to strike next. The youngest girl spoke up, "Yeah! It's too bad you're on the wrong floor!"

That made their blood run cold. That means the true challenges were on the lower floors, where Ran had sent Yoji and Ken. Ran was starting to worry about Ken. In his current very confused condition, this mission was already going to be difficult for him, but it looked like things were going to go more downhill. Schriedent wasn't going to be hard to beat, but they were a very stubborn group. It would take them a while to reach Ken and Yoji at this rate. Ran hoped for the best as he and Omi lunged for their targets.

------------------------------------------------

"This is the last room down here," Yoji hissed.

"Heh. Good. I'm getting tired of these appetizers," Ken chuckled darkly.

Yoji raised an eyebrow at Ken, looking him over once, critically noting that Ken didn't seem in a very good condition, as Ran had warned Omi and him of earlier. The blood was dripping off of Ken's claws like a waterfall. Yoji thought he would have never seen the day, but today Ken was full of surprises. He had never seen someone kill so mindlessly and heartlessly, and yet still radiate of simply pained innocence. How Ken managed to retain this confusing form of purity was beyond Yoji. He couldn't even say the same for half of his late night wild dates, and he was pretty sure most of them have never even killed or done anything too sinful in their lives.

Before he could plan things out in his mind, Yoji watched in slight horror as Ken kicked open the final door and rolled into the room. Yoji looked inside and clucked his tongue. "_Shit_...the goods were in _this _room the whole time," he muttered.

_"Very good!" _came Crawford's voice filled with mocking-approval, _"I'd say I didn't expect Weiss to be smart enough to split up the work, but of course, I already foresaw it a long time ago. That's why we were sure to move the project to a place where Weiss would send their weakest and most annoying members. You two will be easy to destroy. Then we will have enough time to move this project to a safer place. You will not get in the way of Esstet!"_

Immediately they were ambushed. There was one thing Crawford hadn't forseen. Ken's fighting technique when he was upset.

------------------------------------------------

Omi caused the last Schriedent girl to pass out from one of his sleeping darts. Ran grabbed Omi gently by the arm, but forcefully pulled him to the direction of the door. "Come on, let's go."

Omi didn't have to be told twice. They headed off towards the hallways leading towards the lower floors where the smelled a lot of blood. There was no question about it. Ken and Yoji had gone through here.

------------------------------------------------

Nagi had been the first to fall by Ken's claws. Ken only merely made Nagi pass out of both surprise and strength of impact as Ken's claws dug into Nagi's shoulder, slamming the young psychic into a wall with great force. It wasn't Nagi's blood Ken was after anyway. Ken's mind was now only on one particular psychic, and he wasn't going to let that man out of his sight.

Crawford and the other two Schwarz paused for a moment, as well as Yoji. Ken was staring straight at Schuldich in hurt and betrayal. Now that he was finally face to face with Schuldich again, all of Ken's anger seemed to dissipate right away, and everything was replaced with pain.

_"Bradley!" _

_"What!" _Crawford snapped back at the voice in his head, it was Schuldich.

_"You and Farfarello take care of the blond. I'll handle the Siberian kitty."_

Crawford snorted as he was able to catch a few of Ken's thoughts by accident by channeling Schuldich's thoughts into his mind. _"All right. Do whatever you want to him. He's hardly a worthy opponent to us at this point anyway. You go kiss and make up with your boyfriend."_

Schuldich's left eye twitched at Crawford's last statement, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he merely tackled Ken to the wall as Crawford and Farfarello started rushing for Yoji who was preparing his next move.

_"So kitty came crawling back to Weiss, eh?" _Schuldich mocked Ken only half-heartedly.

Ken's eyes narrowed. _"Just shut up, Schuldich!" _the boy lunged for him.

Schuldich caught Ken's arms easily and pinned them over Ken's head as he got very close to the other boy. _"You realize I can terminate you right now, don't you?"_

Ken showed absolutely no fear, in his mind, or physically. _"Then go right ahead, you bastard. You'd be doing me a damn favor for once."_

Schuldich blinked. He had been so ready to fight Ken, and now all of that was gone. They stared at each other a long time, Ken waiting for Schuldich to move, and Schuldich wondering over why he wasn't doing anything yet. Both were ignoring the other fighters who were being oblivious to their small "moment." Schuldich was starting to hesitate, Ken was really quite the interesting person.

Before he knew it, Schuldich found himself leaning in and pressing his mouth over Ken's, forcing himself in. Ken's eyes widened. The fighting around them stopped a moment. Crawford and Farfarello were looking at Schuldich strangely, and Yoji looked like he was in the middle of an "aha" moment and pure disgust that Schuldich would go that far. Nagi was still passed out on the ground, and Omi and Ran had just come through the door, frozen at the sight they were seeing as well.

Oblivious to all of stares and just plain disgusted at what was happening, Ken pushed Schuldich away with all of his strength, his shades which had been on his forehead slipping onto his face because of the force. He stared at Schuldich with a mix of anger and pure disbelief at Schuldich's nerve. _"What the bloody hell was that!" _Ken screamed in his mind.

Schuldich half-smiled as if he wasn't quite believing things himself. _"Well kitten...I think I realized something just now...I think I'm going to keep you."_

"Ugh!" Ken managed to yell out in frustration.

He glared in Schuldich's direction. "I don't...I don't believe you! Did you not have enough fun the first time around or something?"

Schuldich chuckled half-heartedly. It looked like he was going to have to win the Siberian over somehow. The fighting resumed when Ken lunged for Schuldich. Omi went to help Yoji, and Ran was running towards the battle between Ken and the German psychic. Crawford and Farfarello resumed their spat with the blond Weiss boy and readjusted to accomodate taking care of the other pesty Weiss member as well. Everyone's battle seemed to have lost some of it's seriousness now though. Everyone was distracted in their minds in some way. It was frustrating honestly.

Ken felt as if someone was killing him inside. He was tired of all of this ridiculous and confusing drama. He didn't need any more of these problems in his life. He was getting really sick of getting picked up, tossed aside, and taken up again at everyone's convenience. He just wanted things to be back to normal. Lunging for Schuldich, he wondered if he could ever make things the same for himself again. He had no doubt in his mind that he could, however, as he was able to cut a nasty gash into the German's shoulder. Things could go back to normal if he was given a little time. After all, he was Ken Hidaka. He had gotten out of deeply twisted situations before when he had really tried and wanted to. And he had enough motivation to get out of this one and just leave it behind. After this battle, he would do it.

He'd just _start over_.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Saiki.Kensuke.Yuuta: How was it? Final pairings are slowly making their apperances starting next chapter! Stay tuned! Reviews please! They really keep me going, seriously. Oh, and don't freak if you get e-mails from me once in a while. Just showing extra appreciation to the reviewers. And sometimes you all say things that really smile, and I just wanna share that emotion with you guys.

Thanks for sticking with my stories! Especially this one, since I've never done a multi-chaptered thing this long before.


	6. Anschlag

Author's Note: A note to everyone, I have finally updated the hotlink in my profile for the long-awaited homepage of my works. It's a better detailed listing of my fiction project campaigns and updates. You can go see better detailed previews for upcoming projects by hitting the link in my profile, or just copy-pasting the url I'm going to place here for you all. Feel free to comment on those entries with anything you want to say! If you have an account, be sure to sign the anonymous comment with your screenname so I know who's keeping up with my projects and who's interested, and so on...

Here's the url: www. livejournal . com / users / saikenyuu

Get rid of the spaces between the url to go there. I had to space it out or the url wouldn't show. Stupid, I know.

Disclaimer & Warnings : Everything was listed first two chapters.

Pairing: RanOmi, one-sided SchuKen, developing YoKen.

Fic Note: This fic is going to be 10 chapters long, as I've finally decided. I'm going to see how much I can finish today. Welcome to chapter 6, everyone!

_**Anschlag**_

_"Watch out!"_

_Ran had swiftly turned only to widen his eyes in slight shock as the enemy's bullet went through Ken's shoulder and barely grazed his own shoulder after going through Ken with such force. Ran caught Ken's fall, and Ken looked up at him and winked, one hand on his injured shoulder. "You should be more careful, you know..."_

_Ran didn't say anything and put Ken in a safe place out of enemy view while he took care of the other enemies. Ken could still fight, but he'd wait until Ran would run into any other trouble before doing anything. Sometimes Ran just like taking care of things on his own to protect him, even though he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself._

------------------------------------------------

Ran had been completely mortified when he saw Schuldich kiss Ken, which was probably everyone's inner reaction on both assassin teams. Even Ken seemed disgusted by the action. Only Schuldich seemed to be behind the times, thinking everything was going to be all right for him. Ran didn't understand it himself, but before he knew it he was running after Schuldich and Ken with some strange feeling boiling inside of him. He wasn't sure whether to label it anger, jealousy, or just plain protectiveness. Whatever it was, it made him feel slightly guilty to Omi, but he was pretty sure for the most part that his feelings for Ken were now entirely platonic. Yet he constantly felt he owed the brunette something.

He felt Omi charge after Yoji, where he should have been helping too. After all, Yoji was not only outnumbered he was fighting the stronger of the two Schwarz members. Still somehow, he couldn't help but instinctively charge after Ken, like the old days. The battle didn't last long after that.

Schuldich kept his distance from Ken, frustrating the younger boy as he was trying to get into closer range. _"Come on, kitten...won't you just listen to me?" _Schuldich asked.

"No! There is nothing to hear!" Ken shouted back, too frustrated to even think his words.

Crawford's voice interrupted Schuldich's thoughts, _"It's too dangerous now. Take Nagi, and let's get out of here."_

_"Nani! What about the experiments?"_

Crawford did not sound happy, _"We were sloppy. We have to abort this mission. We've lost this time."_

Schuldich wasn't ready to go just yet, but then in the slight moment of distraction with Crawford, he felt a sword go through his shoulder. Following that surprising blow he felt Ken's bugnuks slice a gash down the side of his arm. Schuldich screamed in frustration, now he was pissed off. He recoiled away from his pursuers and went to pick up Nagi. He narrowed his eyes and hissed at Ken. _"I have no idea what I was thinking. You're nothing but a lowly kitten. You'll pay for those blows."_

Schuldich then went quickly to Crawford's side. Ken and Ran were hot on Schuldich's trail, but were blocked by Farfarello holding Omi by the head with a blade to the boy's neck. Yoji was pinned down by Crawford's strong power. The two free Weiss were frozen, not quite sure what action would be effective to take. Crawford seemed to say something to Farfarello in his mind, causing Farfarello to drop Omi abruptly as the Schwarz members teleported out of the building, leaving all of the vital items of Esstet behind. Without hesitation Ran did the next best thing he could, destroy all of the vital Esstet components at this base.

Omi wasn't injured too badly this time, and he limped over to check on Yoji who appeared for the most part fine save a few scratches and bruises. Schwarz had been too distracted to do any critical damage this time. Ken meanwhile was looking at his hands in slight shock and horror. The old Ken was resurfacing, and he was coming to his senses. Ken was feeling really sick now. The blood was for the most part dried on his bugnuks, but that didn't comfort him. He felt the blood of all those people covering him, and he was suffocating. Ken grabbed his head and tried screaming, but his mouth would only open with no sound.

The scenes from the recent months were all playing in his head. He couldn't believe how much he had lost his mind over love. He had wanted to be loved and needed so badly, he had gotten so deep into new problems he had created for himself. He had gotten involved with an enemy, severed his relationship with Weiss and its members, and he was becoming a mindless murderer. The guilt was overwhelming. So was the pain.

The last thing he remembered before passing out was his fellow Weiss members rushing to his side.

------------------------------------------------

_He was dreaming of playing soccer. He was so happy. He was following his parents' car with his soccer ball, and then watched in horror as the car burst into flames. Suddenly he was in an orphanage and playing soccer with the kids there. He was everyone's big brother, because he was the oldest. No one was older than him, so he had no one to lean on when something happened. The younger kids would offer to give comfort, but it just didn't feel the same._

_He dreamed of his old foster family that he had left after the incident with Kase. He remembered meeting Kase for the first time. He remembered killing Kase, the blood of an old friend-turned enemy on his claws. _

_He was in the middle of his favorite playing field, playing with his soccer ball when suddenly it got dark and he was surrounded by people. Schuldich was sneering at him. Ran was walking away, with Omi at his side telling him to go away, that Ran was his now. And then there was Yoji, accusatory Yoji. Asking him why he kept leaving Weiss and then coming back._

_They all turned and walked away eventually. Ken was left all alone in his field with his soccer ball. He felt so empty. _

Ken woke up with tears in his eyes. Everything was coming crashing down on him now. All of his recent mistakes were definetly haunting him. "So you're awake."

Ken looked around and spotted Ran leaning on the stairway pole where Yoji usually would be during their mission briefings. That would mean that Ken had woken up on the couch. Ran walked up to Ken and tried brushing away a few strands of Ken's hair, but Ken only recoiled. Ran put his hand down at his side and bent down next to the couch, looking at Ken. "How are you feeling...?"

When Ken didn't respond, Ran sighed. He didn't know when it happened, but it seemed as if Ken had become pretty distant from everyone, especially him. Ran patted the couch out of slight frustration, he still wanted to comfort Ken somehow, even though it was no longer his place to do so. "All right...all right...I'll send someone else to check up on you then."

Ran got up to go towards the stairs to get Omi to come down to comfort Ken, the two had been pretty close as well. Ken stopped him. "Not...not Omi..."

Ran sighed. Of course he had forgotten for a moment that Ken might feel awkard seeking comfort from Ran's current lover. "Yoji then?"

Ken hesitated for a moment. He needed comfort badly now, but he didn't like the idea of Yoji, who always seemed to be so right with his advice coming down to comfort him with more advice that would probably come true and make him feel even worse later. Ken shook his head, "No...no one. I'm going home..."

Ken got up slowly and made his way past Ran. Ran decided it was best not to stop Ken, but he followed Ken upstairs silently. It was late afternoon at the flower shop, which meant slow business. Omi spotted Ken and ran up to the older boy, smiling. "Ken-kun! You're awake!" he said cheerily.

Ken didn't even smile or acknowledge Omi's presence. His only concern right now in his mind was getting on his motorcycle and going straight home. Omi looked hurt and confused as he watched Ken leave the shop. "Ken-kun...? _Ken-kun...?_"

Ran shot Yoji a glance and the other Weiss assassin got the message. He followed Ken outside the shop. Ken went around back to get his motorcycle. Before he could get on, Yoji grabbed Ken gently by the shoulder. Ken sighed and turned around, looking very tired. "What is it, Yoji...?"

"Where are you going, Ken?"

"Home."

"You're in no condition to go home."

"Well, you can't stop me."

"True...I can't, and I won't. But at least let me take you home. I don't know if you've noticed, Ken, but you've been in bad shape for a while now."

"Shut up, Yotan," Ken snapped, using the nickname he used sometimes to annoy Yoji and warn the older man to back off of him.

"You can't make me, _KenKen,_" Yoji countered.

Ken sighed, exasperated. "All right, fine. You take me home, then will you all leave me the hell alone for a while?"

Yoji smirked. "Sure thing, KenKen."

He got on the motorcycle and Ken blinked. Yoji looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Well? Are you going to get on or not? Or did you expect us to walk?"

"Uh..."

Yoji snickered. "Or do you not trust me with your bike?"

Ken frowned, "Partly that..."

"And?"

"And well...isn't it kind of weird? I mean, it's normal for two guys to be in the same car and all, but it looks kinda weird if two guys are on a cycle..."

Yoji grinned. "Don't worry, Ken, it's not like we have a 'Just Married' sign flying behind this thing."

Ken rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "I still think it's kind of weird...can't we just take _your _car or something?"

"Nope."

"Huh! Why not!"

Yoji smirked. "Because, _KenKen_, unlike you-who only _partly _doesn't trust me with this cycle, I don't trust you _at all _with my car."

Ken grew flustered. "Hey! I won't even be driving!"

"I know. But knowing you, you'd still damage _something_."

They argued for a while, but it developed into mostly playful banter. The mood seemed to loosen up between them, and Ken seemed a bit happier again. Eventually Ken was convinced to go on his cycle with Yoji, who negotiated with Ken by allowing Ken to be the one to wear the helmet to hide his identity. Ken was hesitant at first, but he eventually got behind Yoji and wrapped his arms around Yoji, melting into the other assassin's warmth. He rested his head gently on Yoji's back, and closed his eyes for most of the ride as they went off towards Ken's apartment after Ken gave Yoji some simple directions.

Ken hadn't felt this comfortable and safe in a long while. It was almost ironic. To find a small comfort in the straightest playboy on the planet, and the one person Ken never seemed to stop arguing with. Yoji knew how to push Ken's buttons to the point where Ken couldn't tell the difference between being annoyed and being furious. Probably the same way Yoji's dates felt about him, Ken figured. He could picture Yoji flirting with women, he just couldn't picture Yoji doing anything _right _in order to keep them for more than a day. A week, at most.

When they finally made it to Ken's house, Ken was half-asleep. He had been so comfortable that ride. He thought he heard Yoji say something, but he was too tired to understand or respond. Eventually he felt Yoji park Ken's motorcycle and felt Yoji take his helmet off. He could barely recognize Yoji. He only saw fuzzy colors of white, yellow, and peach. He heard small amused laughter, and felt himself being lifted up and carried.

------------------------------------------------

It took Yoji about ten minutes to figure out which place was Ken's. As Yoji figured, Ken was very friendly to everyone. He managed to find a little boy going into his house and asked him if he knew where Ken lived. The boy kindly told him before going into his own house. Eventually Yoji reached Ken's door and opened it, letting himself in along with Ken, now growing a bit heavy on his back.

Finding Ken's bed, he placed Ken on it and looked silently at Ken's peaceful face, and it seemed to bring him some sort of peace as well. It had been a while since he had seen the boy's face so at ease. Ever since Ken had killed Kase, things seemed to have gone downhill for Ken. The problems Ken had been running into didn't seem that huge to Yoji, since he had already done things like that before, but of course this was all Ken's first time experiencing confusing relationship up-and-downs. It was almost adorable to Yoji. Yoji sat by Ken's side for a while, pulling up a chair to the side of the bed, contemplating. It was a shame that people seemed to keep on turning Ken away, he wasn't a bad person.

Yoji eventually got up to go back to the flower shop, as it was getting late. He needed to walk and reach the flower shop before it got too dark to see. The last thought that ran into his mind before he left was that if Ken had been a girl, he definetly would have given him a chance. Hell, someone with Ken's personality could probably put Asuka out of his mind. His personality was so different from Asuka's, there would be no way in the world Yoji could be able to confuse the two.

It was odd that he was actually saying to himself that Ken was attractive in some way, but Yoji figured it was just the way he was that made him think that way. So without a second thought on the subject, he headed back to the shop where his car would be so he could head home himself.

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Ken woke up to the cold of his room. Feeling a strange pit in his stomach, he ran into the bathroom, sliding across the floor a bit, sliding to the toilet and slamming the lids open. His body shook, and he threw up nothing at first, but eventually the thick bile ran up his throat and went into the toilet bowel. He sighed and flushed the toilet and leaned his head against the cold wall, breathing hard. His face was very pale, and he put a hand to the wall, trying to push off to get up but found he was just too tired to.

He really needed to get a grip on himself, but so many emotional confusions and turns was not something Ken Hidaka was built for. Even _he _was used to being optimistic and cheery, not because he was pretending, it was because he really was that kind of person. He did feel better after releasing what had been bottled up inside physically at least. It gave him slight peace of mind.

He heard the soft music playing from his alarm clock. That meant it was 5:30 in the morning. Ken normally would have done his morning jog before making it to the flower shop by 6am. He had been thinking about ways to get up for work, when he drifted off to sleep, the music from the alarm clock playing a soothing Mozart tune.

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_The sun was warm on his back. Oddly enough, he didn't have his soccer gear on, nor did he have anything soccer related with him. He was on a beach, and the sky was clear for the most part with the most beautiful puffy white clouds overhead. The wind was gently brushing through his hair, and he smelled the natural salt of the beach. Ken hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time. He was wearing only swimming trunks and a pair of sunglasses. He put his hands on his hips and took a look around the people on the beach. A man walked behind him and accidentally bumped into him, dropping a wallet. Ken turned and saw a tall man that looked like a lifeguard walk away from his post, since another woman seemed to have taken his place. The man was heading for a motorcycle._

_Ken bent down, picked up the wallet, and chased after the man. "Hey!" his voice seemed to echo in the dream, "Hey, mister! Wait!"_

_The man didn't stop. Ken found himself running faster, and feeling the wind rushing around him, almost hugging him. Ken smiled as he chased after the man. Even if he could never reach the man, this running felt so good. These past few months, Ken had forgotten what a great feeling it was to just get out and run like a maniac. His natural speedy instincts kicked in, however, and he finally managed to reach the man. He grabbed the man's shoulder. _

_"Hey...!" he managed to puff out._

_The man turned, but his face seemed mostly blocked out by the sunlight. The man's mouth moved, asking Ken a soundless question that Ken seemed to understand anyway. He smiled and handed the wallet over. "You dropped this, mister."_

_The dream seemed to focus on the man's smile. It was soothing and reassuring. Ken hadn't been smiled at like that in a long time. It made him feel so good. Ken was easily satisfied with simple gestures like that. Somehow, he found himself getting wrapped up in some kind of conversation with this person. He seemed so interested in what Ken had to say. _

_Eventually, somehow, this man gave Ken an invitation to come with him to some restaurant. Since it was a dream, Ken somehow skipped a scene that should have happened in the dream, and suddenly jumped straight to being fully dressed in casual wear. He was wearing sandy cargo pants, sneakers, and a red tee-shirt. The man was laughing at something Ken had said. Ken blushed, but not out of embarassment, just pure bliss. He hadn't been able to make people smile in a long time. Lately all he seemed to be able to do was create tension. The man got on his motorcycle, and Ken went behind of him. The man asked him something about if he felt awkard riding with him, and Ken said it was all right._

_The man started riding off with Ken, and Ken found himself leaning into the man's warmth. A warmth that seemed so familiar to Ken, but he just couldn't place it. He wrapped his arms around this man's sturdy waist and relaxed the whole ride. _

_The scene eventually switched to being at this man's house. It was a townhouse. They were sitting in the living room, drinking coffee and engaged in a happy conversation. Eventually the mood got a bit more serious. The man moved over to his side, and got closer to him. Ken didn't feel nervous at all. He was so at peace right now with this person. He saw the man's lips move and say something before leaning down closer to him. He felt the man's warm hands against his shoulders. He was slowly closing his eyes as their lips were getting closer together to touch, when suddenly there was a loud banging noise followed by a series of rapping noises. Ken jumped, and the man pulled away and laughed. Ken blushed, embarassed, as he realized that someone was fixing a roof next door. The banging seemed to be getting louder for some reason, however. He felt the man's protective hold over him when suddenly he felt a huge rush of cold all around him._

Ken's body recoiled as he woke up sprawled on the cold bathroom floor. He realized that he must have fallen over in his sleep. Ken was pretty sure he was awake, but he was still hearing the loud banging from his dream. There was muffled screaming from the entrance. Ken got up a bit shakily and made his way towards his front door.

The muffled screaming was a bit louder and not so muffled anymore. Ken glanced at the clock a minute before reaching the door. It was 10:45am. "Ken!" he heard from the other side of his door, "Ken! I swear if you don't open up this damn door I'm going to kick it right in!"

Ken's eyes widened slightly, he recognized the voice but he wasn't completely sure who it was since he was still a bit dazed. He opened the door swiftly, trying to prevent the person on the other side from actually implementing their crazy suggestion. "Ran...?"

Ken looked at the man standing on the other side, who was breathing hard. It wasn't Ran.

It was Yoji.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Saiki.Kensuke.Yuuta: So how about that? I was going to keep going with this chapter, but I felt that this was a good enough ending for this chapter. I've decided to just continue this scene a different way than planned in the next chapter. Look out for it!


	7. Wachen Sie Auf

Author's Note: If you all are curious where I seem to get such inspiration for this fic, it's actually from the songs I've been listening to lately. If you put the following few songs on during the reading of this fic, I think it'll put you in the same mood as it put me in. Especially song I have deemed the theme for this fic.

All songs are from Pink's latest CD, Try This. I really recommend listening to the songs listed while reading, especially the first song I listed. I will update the other chapters with song selections too, if I use them-which is very likely.

Song listing goes as follows:

Chapter 1- **Save My Life (This is also the theme. It goes with every single chapter of this fic.)**, Chapter 2- **Walk Away**, Chapter 3- **Unwind**, Chapter 4- **Waiting for Love**, Chapter 5- **Try too Hard**, Chapter 6- **Catch Me While I'm Sleeping**.

Disclaimer & Warnings: Everything was listed first two chapters. New disclaimer though, I don't own any of Pink's songs that I have listed, obviously. I'm only listing them so in case readers want to go back and read the fic with the new list of songs to get more into the mood, then I don't claim to own any of the songs. I only own the inspiration that I drew from them.

Pairing: Hints of a wavering RanOmi, one-sided SchuKen, continuing YoKen.

Fic Note: Coming down to the final four chapters, everyone! **Featured Pink song in this chapter is "Love Song."**

Next song for next chapter will be **"Tonight's the Night." **After that, there are no specific songs set for the remaining chapters. The particular chapters I listed with songs have some sort of related importance.

_**Wachen Sie Auf**_

Yoji was so relieved when Ken had opened the door to his house, he completely ignored the fact that Ken appeared to have been looking for someone else. Ken was a complete mess. His hair was flat on his face, like he had been sweating hard. The boy had bags under his eyes, due to lack of good rest, and he was completely pale and sickly looking, as if someone just sucked the soul out of him with a straw. Yet, amazingly enough, Ken still managed to smile at Yoji and step aside, inviting the older boy in; an invitation the blond quickly accepted.

It took all the rest of Ken's energy to shut his door. He was feeling a bit faint again. He had gotten up too quickly to answer Yoji's call. He relaxed only slightly when he felt Yoji's arms around his waist, lifting him up very easily and carrying him to bed. Ken weakly looked over at Yoji and smiled a small smile. "Yoji..." he whispered.

Yoji looked furious. "What?" he snapped.

Ken flinched away. "Are you mad...?"

Yoji attempted to soften his expression a bit, but he still looked pissed. "Damn straight. You try banging on someone's door for ten minutes while thinking about all of the horrible possibilities that could be lying behind that door."

Ken half-smiled. "No one asked you to check up on me..."

Yoji snorted. "Well actually, Aya _did _suggest that I come here. We were all pretty worried about you, know that? You always come to the store a few heartbeats after Aya, and when you didn't show up all morning, we knew there was something up."

Ken laughed weakly at the mention of Ran's pseudonym. Ran had probably thought Ken had decided to ditch Weiss again or something because of recent events. He felt a small pang of guilt and yet a small sense of accomplishment. This proved that Weiss still had concern for him, no matter how insignificant he felt at times. He also remembered the way he had treated Omi the day before, and realized the chibi was probably affected by his absence. Without Ken's aid, Omi was usually swamped by his mini-fanclub of school girls. Not to mention even Ken missed their early morning chats. He couldn't remember when the last time was where he had simply taken the time to just _talk _to Omi without any tension between them.

"Maybe I should have called..."

Yoji sighed, "Yeah, _may-be._"

Ken laughed softly. "Okay, maybe I _definetly _should have. It slipped my mind, Yoji. You can forgive me...right?"

Yoji frowned and was about to answer with a 'no', when he realized that may not be the smartest answer choice at the moment. The last thing Ken needed was more emotional stress, no matter how large or small. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever," was all he managed to spit out.

Ken relaxed and gave Yoji a small smile. "That's good..." he said softly as he melted into his bed.

It didn't take long, but Ken had fallen asleep again. Yoji watched in slight exasperation at the brunette's sleeping figure. This boy sure knew how to stress Yoji out. He couldn't even enjoy his late night dates anymore because he was constantly worrying about the boy's condition. It hadn't been a strong emotion at first, but lately Ken had been able to snake his way into the playboy's thoughts a bit more often now. Dark dreams of Asuka's death seemed to be replaced with a broken Ken, crying for help but no one lending a hand to him.

Several of the dreams were pretty disturbing and struck a chord of anger inside Yoji. Anger at society, and anger at his own imagination for coming up with such extreme situations. Something his mind was very practiced at. One of these dreams had Ken hanging from a bridge, one hand gripping tightly at the metal as the other hand reached out in silent plea for help of a passerby. He'd see many random people just pass Ken by without a care. He'd see Omi frozen in horror, not able to do anything. He'd see Ran holding one of Omi's hands, with his other hand on his blade, simply just looking down with Omi at Ken, not making a single move to help. He would finally then see that stupid German psychic walk by Ken with a smirk on his face, and stomp on Ken's hand before walking away and disappearing into the crowd. And each and every time, Yoji would finally feel himself running towards Ken, and every time he would be too late to save the boy. He would have already lost grip of the bridge, and his mouth would be open in a silent scream, his eyes revealing a feeling of betrayal while staring straight at Yoji. The dream always sent chills down Yoji's spine.

The latest dream he had of Ken had been last night. But it was more of an exaggerated memory than anything else. It was because of that dream he had gotten up early and had arrived at the shop in the early morning instead of his usual afternoon entrance.

_It had been of Weiss' latest encounter with Schwarz. Schwarz had gone, and Ran and Omi were coming towards him to check up on his condition. He was going to overdramatize his situation when he saw Ken. It was almost like an artist's dream. If an artist or photographer wanted to catch an image of an angel falling from the sky, that would have been the perfect time. Ken was covered in dried blood. His hands were shaking, and Ken looked like he was numb with disbelief at what he was seeing. He probably didn't realize that he really had lost his usual control and killed many. _

_Yoji remembered lunging madly for Ken, trying to catch him as the boy dropped his hands and it seemed as if an invisible force was kicking Ken hard behind the knees, causing Ken to bend backward and fall, eyes rolling to the back of his head. Ran and Omi had turned immediately as Yoji began his swift movement, and everyone seemed to have forgotten their own physical problems as they ran after Ken. Ran had been closest at the time and caught Ken before his head made contact with the ground._

_Yoji's dream seemed to have amplified the drama of the scene. Everything went in slow motion, and the finishing scene where Ken was falling back seemed to slow down into a couple slow snapshots, yet he was still running fast. Instead of Ran, it was him who had caught Ken in his dream. He had then looked down at the cradled assassin in his arms and felt a strange feeling of accomplishment. Like he had just saved something worth millions._

When Yoji had arrived early and not spotted Ken, he didn't pay the fact any mind at first. After all, Yoji was almost never at the shop early, he didn't know any of Ken's early morning store habits. He didn't get worried until Omi showed up at around 9:45 in the morning. It only took a small exchange of conversation between Omi and Ran that sent Yoji running.

_"Ohayo, Aya-kun!"_

_"Hn..."_

_"What's wrong, Aya? You don't look so good."_

_"Ken's not here yet."_

_"Huh? Ken-kun's late?"_

_"Very late. This is ridiculous, even for him."_

_"When does he usually come?"_

_"Around six. Almost ten minutes after me."_

_Yoji's heart skipped a couple beats at that point. That was almost four hours ago. He put down the flowers he had been arranging and rushed out of the store hurriedly. Omi had called after him, curious. "Yoji-kun? Yoji-kun? What are you doing here so early? Where are you going? Hey! Hey!"_

_Yoji would have normally answered the chibi's questions, but he needed to go check up on Ken before something bad happened to him. He was ready to kill the boy himself if something happened to him. He was lucky not to have been cornered by any cops on his way to Ken's house. _

Yoji went in Ken's kitchen and rummaged through Ken's fridge, looking at all of the health products disapprovingly. Not only was Ken's fridge was full of health foods, there wasn't a whole lot of food in the fridge _period_. A bit reluctant to leave Ken behind, Yoji found that he had no choice. He looked around the room for where he had left Ken's keys yesterday-he was pretty sure the boy didn't have time to move it anywhere. He was right. He found the keys exactly where he had left them. He took the keys and left the house, locking the door behind him as he headed for the nearest grocery store to get some things.

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_It was the man from his previous dream again. He appeared a bit more clear than the last time. This time, it was a clearer view of the man's face. It wasn't completely recognizable yet, his vision was still a bit blurred, but Ken could make out the striking green eyes. He was comfortable and safe in this man's arms. The room they were in was starting to smell of a nice friendly aroma of cooking. Once again, their faces were nearing each other, lips almost touching._

Ken opened his eyes as he felt someone shake his shoulder gently. Ken looked up and dropped his jaw slightly in surprise as he was looking into the same green eyes from his dream. Yoji put a bowl of porridge in his face. "Here. Eat this. You'll feel a lot better."

Ken blushed as he took the bowl. It made far more sense now. The warmth when he had ridden the motorcycle was the same as when Yoji had taken him on his own bike and taken him home. The eyes were definetly the same, and the same scolding kindness was the same as in his dream. Ken sighed as he took a bite, of all people to feel warm affections for, fate just had to deal him the playboy's card. Yoji was looking at him in anticipation. "How is it? Is it all right?"

Ken nodded and smiled at him. "Yeah. It tastes good," it actually did taste good. It was a wonder that Yoji knew how to cook, he certainly didn't look the type.

They sat in friendly silence as Ken ate up the food. Ken hadn't realized how hungry he really had been until he ate the first couple bites of what Yoji had given him. Yoji laughed lightly when Ken shyly returned the completely finished bowl. "Do you want more?"

Ken shook his head. He was full. Yoji smiled. "I'll be right back, then."

Ken's eyes widened in slight panic. He was so comfortable with Yoji, he didn't want the man to leave so soon. "Are you going back to the shop?" he asked as he watched the blond go into his kitchen to put the bowl and utensils away. Yoji's voice floated in, "Yeah, kinda."

Ken raised an eyebrow. "Kinda?" he echoed.

Yoji came back into the room and laughed. "Well, you know how it is. I work for only a couple of hours, and then I hit the clubs."

Ken raised an eyebrow. "Is it really that late?"

"Yeah, you didn't know? You've been sleeping and waking all day long. It's practically 4pm now."

Ken looked over at his clock. Yoji was about right. It was 4:15. "So...there's no mission tonight?"

Yoji shook his head. "There won't be one for a while," he started, then stopped, failing to mention that Persia thought they all should be given a break for a while since Ken's latest fainting spell.

"Oh...so you're going to be clubbing all night then?"

"In about four hours, yes."

Ken looked down at his hands, a bit jealous that other girls were going to be getting the attention of this playboy instead of himself, but he kept inwardly reminding himself that Yoji was as straight as they came, so of course he'd be with all the ladies. Yoji misinterpreted Ken's expression. "You curious?"

Ken's eyes widened slightly. "C-curious of w-what?" he stuttered.

Yoji smirked. "Why, the _clubs _of course. You want to come with me?"

Ken's jaw dropped slightly. For one thing, he would be able to spend time with Yoji, but for another-he didn't really want to go to one of those places. He just didn't like clubs in general. Sure he could dance and knew how to pretend he was having a grand time, but he would rather play soccer to his grave than go. It was an interesting opportunity though. Ken wondered if maybe clubbing was different if you went with someone you knew. He nodded slowly, after some consideration on it.

"Yeah, I kind of am."

Yoji laughed. "Want to go with me then?"

Ken nodded again and started to move out of his bed when Yoji stopped him. "No-no. You stay here."

Ken looked confused. Yoji smiled and ruffled Ken's hair. "I'll just pick you up in four hours, KenKen. Until then, just don't move too much. Save all your energy for the club. You'll need it."

Ken blushed as he watched Yoji leave. After Yoji left his apartment, Ken buried himself under the covers, happy. He couldn't wait until that night, he wanted to see what Yoji really did in the clubs at night.

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As promised, Yoji came to get Ken at around 8:30 that night. Yoji crinkled his nose in slight disapproval of Ken's clothing choice. "You've got to be kidding me, right?"

"Huh?"

Yoji slapped his forehead. "You...are hopeless. Do you have _anything _in your wardrobe that has nothing to do with soccer?"

Ken blushed. "Not...really."

Yoji groaned. "If you go to the club, you're going to stick out like a sore thumb. Come on...let's see what else you've got."

After Yoji practically went through every single individual clothing item in Ken's closet, they managed to settle on black jeans and a white tee-shirt. It was simple, but it was less loud compared to Ken's vibrant reds and blues. After Ken locked the door to his house, they made their way to Yoji's convertible. It was a smooth and comfortable ride to the club. Ken was happy to be with Yoji, and Yoji was just happy that he would be able to keep a closer eye on Ken while being able to enjoy himself at the same time.

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Schuldich was sitting on a higher floor of the nightclub drinking wine from his glass when he saw Ken and Yoji enter the club. He sipped some of his drink as he watched silently at Ken in particular. The mark that Ken had slashed on his arm from their last encounter suddenly burned. Schuldich's eye twitched in annoyance. After an extremely long lecture from Crawford, Schuldich realized that he was merely only _intrigued _by Ken, not in love. There was no fluttery feeling. Only mere curiosity of what kind of entertainment the boy could provide. He took one last sip, and then he got up a bit light-headed, going in Ken's direction.

Yoji found that for the first time, he couldn't concentrate _at all _at the women in front of him. His eyes kept wandering toward the brunette who looked like he was just having the worst day of his life. Yoji felt a bit guilty for dragging Ken along when he wasn't even going to be by Ken's side to entertain him. Then Yoji frowned. Why _should _he be entertaining the brunette anyway? Ken should be grateful to him, for showing him a good time. Yet somehow Yoji still feel obligated.

Yoji took his eyes off Ken for only a second, when he noticed something strange out of the corner of his eye. He turned his gaze and his eyes widened slightly as he spotted the German psychic, of all people, making his way towards Ken. Yoji groaned inwardly. This day was just going downhill. He pried himself away from the disappointed and whining girls and practically bulldozed through the dancing people. Some of them shot him dirty looks for interrupting their fun time, but Yoji paid them no mind. His only mission at the moment was to get Ken out, and _fast_.

Schuldich frowned slightly as he spotted the other Weiss assassin go after Ken. That was _his _target, not Yoji's. He decided to follow Yoji as he dragged Ken outside the club.

Ken had been surprised when he saw the panicked look on Yoji's face. "Yoji, what's wrong?" he asked.

Yoji grabbed his hand and ran out of the club with him. Ken was surprised, and did nothing to protest as he simply followed behind of Yoji. They finally made it out to the back of the club when Yoji dropped Ken's hand, breathing hard. "Yoji...? What happened? What's wrong?"

Yoji's mind went into a flurry as he tried to think of a reasonable excuse. "Er...there was a girl in there I haven't been on good terms with since our last date. I barely recognized her at the last second, but she was in a murderous rampage," Yoji winked, "And you know I don't fight women."

Ken laughed. "What about Schriedent?"

Yoji frowned. "They don't count!"

Ken smiled. "So I guess that means we're-mmph!" he was cut off by surprise when Yoji pinned him to a wall and kissed him.

Ken's eyes widened in shock, and he melted into Yoji's embrace, melting into the kiss. Yoji's eyes were partly open, he was looking out of the corner of his eye at Schuldich, who seemed a bit too drunk now. The psychic looked at them in pure disgust and threw up his hands before going back inside the club to try and snag a few ladies. Most likely he'd pick up the one's Yoji just disappointed.

Yoji tried to pull away, and was shocked when he suddenly realized Ken was insisting on continuing. _"Shit," _Yoji thought, _"Kudou, now what kind of mess did you put yourself into?"_

He only continued to allow Ken to kiss him until Ken finally decided to pull away. Yoji felt a pang of guilt as Ken looked seriously happy. "Wow...Yoji..." Ken said in awe, "You kiss real...well."

Yoji bit the inside of his lip. Ken smiled as he hugged Yoji. The man just allowed Ken to hug him, his hands partly up in the air, about to return the embrace, but Yoji wasn't quite sure where to place his hands. Ken then looked up at Yoji hopefully. Perhaps the blond wasn't completely straight after all? "Yoji...?"

"Y-yes...?"

"What was that for?" Ken asked with the hope ringing clear in his question.

Yoji winced. The last thing he wanted to do was crush Ken right now, and it wouldn't make sense to just use Schuldich as an excuse, after all-he had no proof at the moment. "Erm...well...you see...I just realized that even all the girls at the clubs I go to can't uh-give me...um...what you have," Yoji managed to let out.

Ken's hope was shining brightly in his eyes now, causing Yoji to feel enough guilt to continue this charade. "So what you're trying to say is...?"

Yoji sighed. "Yeah...that. What I guess I'm trying to say is..."

Ken was smiling a little more. "That...I...I think I like you a lot, Ken," Yoji widened his eyes slightly in surprise-he had said it so naturally, he could've fooled himself.

That won Ken over. Ken gave Yoji a big smile and jumped up slightly, since Yoji was a few inches taller than him, and wrapped his arms behind Yoji's neck as he went in for another kiss. Yoji couldn't think of anything else to do rather than just allow Ken to kiss him, and respond a bit, so as not to make Ken suspicious of his declaration. _"You damn German..." _Yoji cursed in his head, _"You're nothing but trouble."_

When Ken was finally satisfied, Yoji drove Ken back to his apartment. When they made it to Ken's house, Ken let himself out of Yoji's car and leaned over the side for a moment, staring at Yoji dreamily. "Yoji...thank you so much...okay?"

Yoji barely felt himself nod. Ken smiled, "Does this mean you're going to cut down on the ladies?"

Yoji gulped. _That _did not seem like something he would like, but he nodded in response. He got himself into this mess in the first place when he could have stopped it, but now all he could do was continue it until Ken figured it out for himself. Ken smiled and got off of Yoji's car. "Really? That makes me glad...but..."

"But...?" Yoji questioned softly.

Ken half-smiled. "You don't have to give it all up, you know. You probably think this is all weird, I mean, even _I _thought you were the straightest guy on the face of this planet just a while ago..."

Yoji chuckled nervously. "I see..."

Ken laughed. "I won't mind if you keep doing it, as long as it's not anything too intimate...you can flirt...if that helps you keep your manliness or whatever."

Yoji nodded slowly. "No more clubbing like crazy, got it."

Ken smiled. "Thanks, _Yotan_."

Yoji half-smiled. So the annoying nickname was an endearment now, _great_. He started up his car and Ken stepped back from it, watching Yoji drive away. Yoji headed for his own house when he looked in the mirror and saw Ken waving. He lifted up his right hand and tilted it to the side slightly in response as he turned the corner. Ken ran up to his apartment, and flopped onto his bed as soon as he entered the house. This was like a dream come true. If it _was _a dream, he never wanted to wake up from it.

Yoji, meanwhile, was thinking quite the opposite. He couldn't believe of all stupid things to do, he had to _kiss _Ken to keep Schuldich away instead of just driving away with Ken. Yet, it was a convincing enough performance to probably ward the German away for good. Yoji went onto his bed and put an arm over his eyes. He chuckled to himself, as he remembered how a while ago he had only been contemplating what it would have been like if Ken was a girl and he dated him. Well, now he had his chance.

The last strange thought Yoji thought of before going to bed was the kiss he had shared with Ken. Somehow, with the passing time, he was getting a bit less and less disgusted by it. It wasn't like he kissed a brother or anything. Thinking like this, he went off into a slightly strange sleep.

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For once, Ken was the first one to open up the flower shop. Ran was very surprised when he entered the shop about fifteen minutes later. After acknowledging Ran's presence, Ken continued to do his usual work around the shop. He was humming a happy tune that Ran didn't recognize. Surprised, he started noticing the changes that Ken seemed to have developed overnight. It was almost strange, because the old Ken that he had been used to before seemed to have completely come together again. Ran watched him silently for a few hours, when suddenly Ken turned around when the bells of the store's front door jingled.

He smiled and waved with his free hand. "Omi-kun!"

Omi looked both shocked and relieved to see his friend there, and looked just as surprised as Ran did with how greatly Ken seemed to have improved. As Omi ran toward's Ken to give him a big hug, Ran felt that twinge of jealousy that the smile hadn't been for him. He realized with slight bitterness that it probably would never be for him specifically again.

_Ken had been watering plants silently when Ran had entered the store a half-hour late. Ken had turned swiftly and smiled at Ran, dropping his watering can. Ignoring the spill, he had run up to Ran and hugged him tightly, burying his head in Ran's shoulder. "I missed you so much, Ran!" he had murmered, "I was so worried something happened to you because you weren't here yet..."_

_Ran had laughed and ruffled Ken's hair affectionately. "Sorry, Ken...had to take care of Aya this morning."_

_Ken looked up with the biggest concern in his eyes. Ran almost laughed at the largely unguarded emotion in them. "Don't worry, Ken. It was nothing serious. She just needed a little help, that's all."_

_Ken had relaxed then. "Oh...that's good," he laughed, hugging Ran, "Ran, let's go somewhere later, okay?"_

_"All right."_

That had been almost a month before their break. So long ago now, Ran realized. He shook his head. He still hadn't been able to get over the fact that they were over. After all, he had never specifically said that he had wanted to leave Ken for Omi, it just kind of happened that way. Somehow, Ken being so instantly over the whole situation wasn't helping his feelings any.

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Surprisingly to all of them, Ken had been very optimistic about staying in the store all day long. Ran realized something was up when Ken's face lit up at Yoji's entrance. Yoji, however, Ran noticed-was not all too happy of the situation, but rather seemed to be forcing his kind and sugary responses on the athletic youth.

"Yoji! You made it!"

A half-smile. "Don't I always? What are you doing here anyway?"

Ken smiled. "I did the one thing you probably wouldn't expect. So what do you do this late in the afternoon here, anyway?"

Yoji shrugged. "Usually whatever you don't finish, or whatever you screwed up," he joked.

Ken grew flustered. "I do _not _screw up anything here! Right Omi?" Ken looked over at the chibi, who merely looked away with a smile and started whistling.

"_Omi...!_"

Yoji laughed. "You see? You are quite the klutz."

"Am not!"

"Ah, but you are."

"Why you!" Ken lunged for Yoji, tripped, and knocked down a couple of plants in the process. Omi slapped his forehead.

"_Yoji-kun!_" Omi scolded, "Don't excite him like that, we could lose our whole store at this rate!"

Yoji laughed. "All right, all right," he bent down to help Omi pick up the pieces.

Ran silently watched them all. Suddenly _he _was the one that felt a bit out of place. "Aya-kun!" he heard the chibi call.

Ran looked over at Omi and half-smiled. Omi was motioning for him to come over. "Do you think you could help me with this, Aya-kun?" the chibi asked shyly.

Ran nodded and helped Omi with the heavy bag of fertilizer. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Ken with Yoji, tugging at Yoji's sleeve. Ran never remembered Ken tugging at _his _sleeve, but then he remembered that he hadn't allowed Ken to do much of anything with him at all. One thing was certain in the red-head's mind as he put the bag of fertilizer away with Omi. Yoji and Ken had established some kind of recent connection, and he wanted to know exactly what kind.

"Aya-kun?" he barely heard the chibi say his name.

"Hn...?" Ran replied absentmindedly.

Omi looked at Ran and searched the older man's eyes. "Aya-kun...is there something on your mind?"

Ran shook his head. "No, not really."

Omi sighed. "Then why do you keep watching Ken-kun and Yoji-kun? Are you mad at them about something? The plants, maybe?"

Ran quickly snapped his head back at Omi. He cursed at himself for being so blatantly obvious. "No...nothing like that at all..." he left the room and resumed his work.

The whole store seemed to be in a mode of tension. Only Ken seemed to be oblivious to the tense air, and tapped Yoji on the shoulder, almost startling the blond out of his guilty thoughts. "What is it, Ken?"

Ken smiled. "You're shift is up soon, right?"

Yoji looked at the clock, gulped, and then nodded. Ken's smile grew bigger, "Let's go somewhere to eat, huh, Yoji?"

Yoji cracked a smile. "Yeah, sure. Where do you want to go?"

Ken shrugged. "Doesn't matter. I just want to hang out a while before I go home."

Yoji nodded. "All right."

Thankfully, Yoji hadn't made any late night plans for that night, or he would have been in big trouble with whatever lady he probably could have dated. When his shift was over, he took Ken outside, and he hopped into his convertible and took off, with Ken following close behind in his motorcycle. The boy had insisted riding behind Yoji so that he could just go straight home after they were done with their date. Ran watched them silently leave the shop, and his mood seemed to go from dark to pitch black. Omi observed all this with a pang of sadness growing inside of him.

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On the drive to one of the more expensive restaurants, Yoji noticed Ken's not-so-clumsy skill at riding a motorcycle. Yoji was slightly impressed. When they made it to the restaurant, Ken had refused to go in. They settled for ice cream instead. Yoji couldn't understand how someone who appeared like a health food junkie-judging by his fridge-could eat such a big cone of ice cream with absolutely no fears.

Their conversation was most interesting. Yoji felt that he could tell Ken anything about himself without the other judging him in a negative way. Ken made him feel so at ease, surprisingly enough. Yoji felt an odd sense of regret when it was time for Ken to get home. He soon found himself making the first move yet again. He brought his face closer to Ken's, and Ken slowly began to close his eyes. Yoji finally brought his lips slowly onto Ken's.

They kissed for what seemed like forever. It was a sweet kiss, each one expressing the longing of being with the other for a while longer. Ken finally pulled away after a while, and melted into Yoji's embrace when he brought Ken closer. They stayed like that a while, comfortable. Yoji speechless, Ken in bliss. Yoji breathed in the sweet aroma of Ken's hair and whispered to the boy. "Want to do this again tomorrow?"

Ken smiled. "Yeah...I'd like that a lot."

Yoji smiled too. "All right. Tomorrow...then."

Yoji followed Ken's motorcycle back to his house, making sure Ken got home safely. He watched in silence as Ken got off, and waved at Yoji before going up to his apartment. Yoji started up his car again and stared at the road before him a moment, in wonder. He wasn't sure what this strange sense of calm he was feeling in his heart. Almost the same sort of calm Asuka had given him, only much better, and much stronger.

Yoji drove off towards his house and wondered if it was love he was feeling. After contemplating a while, he realized that it probably was love he was feeling. Yoji chuckled as he parked his car.

It was funny how sometimes you just couldn't pick who you fall in love with.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Saiki.Kensuke.Yuuta: It's almost done. Wow. Somehow, I feel it's taking me forever to write it out. I spend too much time on my work sometimes, I think. If you check my livejournal out, I'll have updates on other projects I'm planning to work on. I'm so tempted to work on them all at once, but I try to be patient with myself and tackle one assignment at a time. I'm working for quality here, not quantity. Though quantity sounds so tempting. Well, see you next chapter!

Please keep those reviews coming! It's so encouraging! **Once again, thanks so much to returning reviewers!**


	8. Gelächter des Engels

Author's Note: If you've been checking out my livejournal (linked as my homepage in my profile, or same link listed in chapter 6) I've decided to finish up 50 of my fanfiction project by the end of this week at least. So hopefully after I finish this fic today, I'll be on schedule to have at least 3 of the 4 new fics done and posted by this Saturday night.

In case you need the link again for my fic archive, I'll place it in here since chapter six messed up the link. All you have to do is get rid of the spaces since doesn't like to post urls regularly, apparently. (How stupid.)

www. livejournal . com / users / saikenyuu

Hit the "friends" link at the top of the journal in order to see individual constant updates of story and project progresses.

**As usual, I'd really appreciate reviews! **Yes, I still work ahead without them, but I'd still like to know every once and a while that I have the interest and attention of my audience.

Disclaimer & Warnings: Everything was listed first two chapters and chapter 7.

Pairing: Hints of a wavering RanOmi, one-sided SchuKen **(conclusion to this pairing)**, continuing YoKen.

Fic Note: Featured Pink song: **"Tonight's the Night."**

Welcome to the last of the "past" chapters. The final two chapters will be picking up where the first chapter left off. Hope you enjoyed this fic, it's almost over, guys!

_**Gelächter des Engels**_

Ran relaxed slightly as Ken came into the shop on time. Ken seemed to be in the same chipper mood as he had been before. The way he should always be, Ran mused. After a while, he moved closer to Ken as the brunette was watering the some flowers while trying to arrange others at the same time. Ran picked up the flowers Ken was attempting to arrange and started arranging for him. Ken smiled at Ran, causing the red-head's heart to flutter a little bit. "Thanks..."

Ran nodded. "Not a problem."

It was a slight uneasy silence between them for a while. Ran broke the silence first. "So...you and Yoji..."

Ken raised an eyebrow at Ran, but then refocused on the plants he was watering. "Um...what about Yoji?"

"You two seem awfully close lately..."

Ken seemed to space out for a minute, thinking about Yoji, then he closed his eyes and laughed. "Yeah, you can say that."

"Are you two..."

Ken sighed as he put the water can down, staring outside the shop window. "A couple? Actually...I'm not so sure."

Ran raised an eyebrow in curiosity, but didn't say anything, waiting for Ken to continue-which he did. "I really think that we have something going on together...but I get thise feeling that he's not all there, you know?"

Ran nodded slowly. He knew _exactly _what Ken was talking about. He already had a run-in experience with Ken's intuition. "I'm just trying to see where this all goes...I mean, I think Yoji is still deciding himself. I wouldn't blame him if he went back to fully mingling with his women though, all he has to do is say the word, and I'll let him go."

"Just like that? You don't like him or something?"

Ken chuckled. "I _do _like him, a lot now...actually. But I don't think he's ever been or tried to be with a guy before..."

"So then why do you think he is trying to be with you?" Ran didn't understand.

Ken laughed. "Well, we went to this club together recently...and I think something happened. He was probably trying to make one of those girls he's always with jealous or off his back, so...he kissed me."

Ran felt that twinge of jealousy again. "But you know..." Ken looked off dreamily, "I can't get mad at him. I was the one that kept kissing him even when I could tell he wanted to stop. When he broke away, I also was the one who put him on the spot and asked him how he felt about me."

Ran raised an eyebrow. "Why would you do that?"

Ken rubbed the back of his neck and smiled an embarassed smile at Ran. "Well, that was kind of my mistake too. I didn't plan it out as anything forceful. I was actually expecting rejection, anyway. I wouldn't have gotten mad at him for it, it's understandable. But I think he was afraid of me going deeper into my seclusion that he just said he was interested in me."

"Did anything come out of it?"

Ken laughed again. "Yeah, it's weird. Something _did _come out of it. We've been kind of dating for a couple days now...I'm going to wait a while and see what he does. Even if nothing more comes out of it, I won't be able to thank him enough. He gave me comfort, and he snapped me out of my bad emotional daze. At least I know that even after we break up, he'll probably always be around if I need some kind of comfort...he's really a nice guy. It's no wonder the ladies all fall for him," Ken blushed as he was saying this.

Ran sighed. Ken looked up at Ran with a questioning gaze. "What's wrong?"

Ran was going to say something when Omi entered the shop. "Nothing..."

Omi stopped and looked at Ken and Ran a moment, not sure what to make of their closeness. Omi felt a bit disappointed. Ken looked between Ran and Omi, confused for a second before returning to watering his plants. The rest of the day seemed to go along normally. Omi eventually brightened when Ken cracked a couple of jokes, and Ran smiled when Ken broke a few plants, though on most other days he would have scolded the clumsy athlete.

Right at the end of his shift, Ken decided it was time to go home. "Omi! Can you do me a favor?"

The chibi nodded and smiled. "Of course, Ken-kun, what is it?"

"Let Yoji know that I'll be waiting for him at my house, please?"

Omi blinked. The members of Weiss usually kept their homes private from one another, slight privacy for themselves. "Oh...okay, sure, Ken-kun! Does he-"

"Yeah, he knows. Thanks," Ken smiled and left the store.

Ran silently followed behind Ken, and Omi waited a couple minutes before following them both to the back of the store. He took the short cut and instead of going outside to look outside, He went to their storage closet in the back and cracked open the window slightly, listening in on their conversation.

"Ken..." Ken stopped.

"What is it, Ra-_Aya_?" Ken asked softly.

Ran let a flicker of hurt go through his eyes when Ken denied using his real name. "Ken...I told you that you could use my real-"

Ken turned and shook his head slowly at Ran. One hand was held loosely at his side, and the other was holding tightly onto his helmet. "Ra-" Ken started again, then frowned, "_Aya_...that was before...I don't think it's right to do that anymore if you won't even let Omi say it."

"Will you use it if I let him-"

Ken shook his head again. "It doesn't work that way, Aya. Yeah...it's kind of weird to call you that since I call your sister that more...but I have no more reason to call you that or see her anymore...so I'll get used to it."

"She'll still want to see you."

"I'll have to decline until I'm sure that you are completely over me, Aya."

"Hn..."

Ken laughed and ran a hand through his hair. They stood in silence a while. "Does he make you happy?" Ran managed to say finally.

Ken looked away for a moment, and then smiled at Ran. "Yeah...he does..."

Omi listened to the rest of their conversation, and tears sprung to his eyes. He got up and left the closet when he heard Ken's motorcycle start up, and he went back to work as best he could, trying to dry his tears and failing.

_"I'm so sorry, Ken," _he thought, _"But thank you very much..."_

--------------------------------------

Ken rushed to the door when he heard a knocking on his door. He smiled when he saw Yoji. He was looking stylish, as usual. Ken blushed when he realized he didn't have any decent things to wear. Yoji laughed when he saw Ken in his soccer gear. He shook his head. "You know what?"

Ken smiled nervously. "What?"

"I'm not even going to bother looking through your wardrobe this time."

Ken laughed. "Sorry."

Yoji shrugged. "It's all right. I can handle a clumsy double left-footed athelete any day. Let's go."

Ken ignored the insult and laughed, taking Yoji's arm. Yoji's arm tensed a moment, but relaxed quickly. He could get used to Ken. Ever since he started dating Ken, Yoji realized that he had been thinking and dreaming of Asuka less and less. He was even less haunted by nightmares of the people he had killed. It was as if Ken's positivity was negating everything. Or maybe it was just his own personal optimism forming.

Ken noticed the change in how Yoji was responding to him and felt a bit of hope. They had a chance. He walked with Yoji down to the blond's convertible so that they could go on one of their late night dates. Yoji planned on doing this more often from now on. He had cut down his other late night dates to nothing. He was going to give love a try again. With Ken. And he wasn't going to let the opportunity pass him by.

Neither noticed a shadow that had been waiting for them to leave overhead, and nor did they notice the fact that Ken hadn't locked his door when they left. As soon as they left the complex, the shadow went inside of Ken's room and stayed their a while before coming out and disappearing as quickly as it had come.

--------------------------------------

Ken yawned after their dinner at Yoji's house. It was a roomy three-floor townhouse. Ken had immediately been impressed by it. They were very comfortable in each other's company. After a while, Ken broke the comfortable silence. "Nngh...Yotan...?"

"Hm...what is it, KenKen?" Yoji asked tiredly.

"It's getting late, I need to go home now."

Yoji sighed. "You have to leave _now_?" he whined, "Can't you just spend the night here?"

Ken shook his head. "I really want to but...I want to go home tonight."

Yoji laughed and tapped Ken on the nose. "Oh, all right. There's no denying you anyway. Let's go."

They both got up slowly and went towards Yoji's car. They drove home in sleepy, yet comfortable, silence. As they neared Ken's house however, an uneasy feeling settled on both of them. As they heard a lot of sirens and even saw a few ambulances pass by them. Ken grew restless. "Yoji? How much longer?"

"Hm? Oh. Just two more minu-" Yoji's eyes widened as he stopped his car right in front of the apartment complex, "_Shit_..."

Ken looked up in horror. The firefighters were attempting to put out flames. Flames that were coming from _his _apartment. The residents of the complex were all evacuated outside, watching. Yoji jumped out of the car to follow Ken as the young athlete seemed to sprint towards the stairs leading to the upper floors, only to be stopped by the police. "No!" Ken screamed, "No! I have to get through!"

"I'm sorry, sir," an officer replied with some sympathy, "It's too dangerous, I'm afraid we can't allow that."

"No!" Ken screamed again, he attempted to bypass the guards and would have succeeded-had Yoji not held him back.

"Yoji! Yoji, _let go!_" Ken pleaded, "Please let go!"

Yoji held the brunette firm. "I'm sorry, Ken! You can't go up there! I don't want you to get hurt."

"No! You have to let me go, Yoji! My things! My things are all in there!" Ken was crying hard now, out of frustration.

"Ken..." Yoji soothed, "We can buy you new things...there's nothing you can do about it now..."

"No! No! No..." Ken dropped to the floor, crying, "You don't understand, Yoji...everything I've worked for is in there...my first soccer ball...my first jersey...my trophies...Yoji...Yoji please...I don't have to take it all...I just need those few things...Yoji...!"

Yoji saw the sadness in the boy's eyes and knew what he had to do. He gave the officers a cheeky grin. "Sorry. Gotta do what we've got to do!" he said before pushing past the surprised guards with an equally surprised Ken along with him. The officers chased them, but Yoji and Ken were too quick. "Ken! Swear to me you'll only get what you have to and then you'll come right out!"

Ken nodded, "I promise, Yoji!"

They kicked into the building, it was nothing different from their usual missions. Flaming buildings weren't such a problem. It was a slight problem when there were authorities involved, however. Blatantly ignoring the orders of authority was not a good idea, but here they were, doing just that. Ken quickly gathered the things he had been looking for, Yoji taking from Ken what he could. It wasn't as much as Yoji was expecting, but apparently they saved everything Ken wanted to prevent getting caught by the flames. The door almost fell in when they were leaving. Yoji pushed Ken out of the way and the flaming door frame landed on Yoji's back, which he pushed away with his momentum, but the flames were still on his back, burning through his clothing. He didn't tell Ken though, as they quickly made their way down the stairs.

Ken breathed hard, dumping the items into Yoji's convertible when he heard a thud and yelling behind of him. He turned around and to his horror, there was Yoji holding Ken's box of photos and a trophy, while sprawled out on the ground, losing conciousness and his back on fire. He hurried back and pushed aside the things Yoji was holding and tried to pry the flaming jacket off of Yoji while an officer was trying to swat out the flames with his own jacket.

Eventually, the flames on both Yoji and in Ken's house were put out, and Yoji was being whisked away to the hospital for his burns. They weren't anything too serious, but the burns themselves could get worse if they weren't treated right away. A neighbor volunteered to watch over Ken's possessions and Yoji's car while Ken rode with Yoji in the ambulance, but he wasn't listening to his neighbor. He was so mad at himself right now. He couldn't believe that out of his belief that he couldn't live without some material items that could have been replaced somehow, he had almost lost someone far more important in his time of selfishness.

Meanwhile, Shuldich was standing in a tree nearby, watching this whole scene flow with amusement. He was leaning on the tree with a wine glass in one hand, his free arm revealing the bandage around the scar Ken had left behind. He raised up the glass in an invisible toast, smirking.

"And that, my friend, was for ruining my perfect skin."

--------------------------------------

They let Ken see Yoji after almost six hours of him waiting in the waiting room. Ken rushed into Yoji's room. He ran to Yoji's side and looked over at Yoji's bandaged areas. The whole top half of him had been burned a little here and there somehow. Ken let the tears fall freely as he held onto Yoji's unburnt hand. He looked up when he felt Yoji's hand twitch. Yoji's eyes fluttered open and he seemed to be trying to orient himself with the room. His kind green eyes landed on Ken, who flinched away slightly. Yoji gripped Ken's hand as tight as he could at the moment and winked at the brunette, who gave him a sheepish smile.

"Did we save everything...?"

Ken nodded guiltily and started crying again, hugging Yoji who flinched slightly at the pain, but ignored it. "I'm so sorry, Yoji! I'm so sorry! I won't do it again!"

Yoji chuckled. "Hey...hey...don't worry...those things were very important to you, I understand."

Ken shook his head furiously. "But I could have lost you today if something worse happened!"

Yoji smiled. "Well, nothing bad _did _happen, so no use in sulking over it. Come on now, I've been burnt worse before. This is nothing."

Ken looked up and smiled in slight comfort. Yoji ruffled Ken's hair, getting absorbed in those beautiful chocolate brown orbs. "You just say the word...and I'll do anything for you, Ken. Just like today."

Ken looked at Yoji silently, enjoying Yoji's touch. Yoji smiled. "I would give up even my life for you."

Ken's eyes widened slightly. "Why...why would you do that, Yoji?"

Yoji laughed, his sea-green eyes sparkling with life, something that hadn't been in his eyes for years. The last person to have seen that sparkle had been Asuka. Now it was an expression for Ken to enjoy. "Isn't it obvious, Ken? I _love _you."

Ken's jaw dropped slightly, and then his eyes seemed to match Yoji's sparkle as he jumped on top of Yoji and hugged him. "Oh, Yoji! You mean it!"

Yoji laughed. "_Yeah_...I do..."

Their lips met. Yoji closed his eyes, content. _"I'm sorry Asuka...today...I let go of your memory."_

In the back of his mind, Yoji saw Asuka smiling at him and laughing. He heard her voice echo in his mind. _"Well, it's about time, Kudou."_

TO BE CONTINUED...

Saiki.Kensuke.Yuuta: The chapters are getting shorter, if you haven't noticed. You know what that means, right? Two chapters left! Waaah! I'd hate to see this fic go! But all good things must come to an end. Hold your breath and cross your fingers! I will update real soon!


	9. Kämpfen mit Rache

Author's Note: Annnnnnd, welcome back to what should have come after the first chapter in the first place! Hahaha! Fic is finally coming full circle! Hopefully I tied most of the loose ends well enough.

Disclaimer & Warnings: Everything was listed first two chapters and chapter 7.

Pairing: RanOmi, Yoken.

Fic Note: This technically should be the end, but I'll add a sort of bonus chapter to wrap this fic up!

_**Kämpfen mit Rache**_

"Can everyone hear me?" Ran whispered through his comm link.

"Got you," Omi replied.

"Same," Yoji replied, his connection a bit crackly.

They all waited a moment to hear Ken's familiar voice crack in, and then they all seemed to remember simutaneously that Ken wasn't with them at the moment, and that these men they were targeting in their current mission were the very reason why Ken wasn't here. Ran cleared his throat, "All right...everyone know what they're doing?"

"Yeah, I'll be with Yoji to clear the way..." Omi started.

"Right. And I'll have a talk with our main target before eliminating him," Ran finished.

They all fell silent for a while. Yoji broke the silence this time. "Okay, already. I'm ready. What about you guys?"

"Ready!"

"Hn..."

They took off from their hiding place, and they breached the first line of defense. Passing through a broken hole in the electric fence, the three Weiss took off towards the dark building. Omi tripped and fell, causing some of the surrounding guards to spot them and start shooting their guns. Omi and Yoji distracted the guards while Ran started slicing at the doorway, trying to get it to open. Ran grunted as he thought to himself how much easier this task would have been if Ken was here to just simply punch through the door with his bugnuks, and smiled to himself in amusement as he pictured Ken cursing at himself after his hand got stuck in the doorway. He would blame it all on Ran later. He could almost hear Ken's voice now.

_"Ran! This is all your fault, you know that? My blades have another dent in them from that door you made me open!"_

Ran smiled as he managed to get the door open. Omi had somehow figured out about their conversation and said Ken could still be able to call him Ran, and he would continue to call him Aya. Ken still tried to call him Aya, however, just to be kind to Omi. Things had gotten far better between them, though. Though Ran's sister was disappointed that Ken wouldn't be stopping by as often anymore, Ken was true to his word from the day they had their closure conversation and visited Aya every once in a while.

------------------------------------------------

_"Didn't I make you happy, Ken?"_

_Ken had laughed softly. "Yes, you did make me happy too, Aya..."_

_"Do you love him?"_

_"Well...I can't say for sure yet...I mean, he's not even sure of his own position..."_

_"But if he does love you back, do you think you would be able to...?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Didn't we love, Ken?"_

_Ken half-smiled. "We did, Ran," he let the name slip, "I still love you, and I always will. There will always be a part of me that will be yours."_

_Ran was exasperated now. "Then why didn't we work?" a question that he had been pondering a long while._

_He half expected the small smile and chuckle Ken gave him. It probably seemed pretty stupid, how much the tables had turned. Ran-who was normally so keen and perceptive was not understanding this one concept of love. "We didn't work, Ran, because your heart was ready to be somewhere else."_

_"But then why do I-"_

_"Feel different ever since we became over? Listen Ran..." Ken winced slightly at letting the name slip again, he had to work on that habit, "Aya. Omi...he's like my baby brother. I've been watching you two lately, and your relationship seems to be falling apart a little because of your uncertainty...Aya...listen to me. Your heart chose Omi. It's your mind that's not sure of it all. I overreacted to our break-up, even when I promised you that I could handle it, and I'm sorry. But don't let your mind second-guess your heart. You love Omi, and that's what you've got to keep on believing. Don't worry about me anymore. I'm not your responsibility anymore beyond Weiss. Omi should be your number one concern now."_

_Ran had nothing to say to that, then. Ken smiled. "Hey, Aya."_

_Ran almost didn't respond to the name. He was still not used to Ken calling him by his codename outside of battle. He realized he would probably have to get used to that. "Hn...?"_

_"Promise me, that you will try to patch things up with Omi before it's too late?"_

_Ran took a while, but he finally came around. "Aa..."_

_Ken smiled. "That's good. Take good care of Omi."_

_Ran watched in silence as Ken finally put his helmet on, revved his engine, and took off at lightening speed towards his house. For some reason, it didn't hurt that much this time, seeing Ken go. As Ken said, Ran would always have a part of Ken with him forever, and Ken would always have a part of him forever. They could still love each other, but they had different priorities now. Ken had his life, and Ran had Omi. _

_He had returned to the shop, and seen Omi in tears trying to water some roses. Smiling to himself, he went over to Omi, hugged the chibi and helped him water the flowers. He realized that the chibi probably misunderstood why he had gone outside after Ken. He had been seeking closure-which he recieved, but that was probably not what it looked like to another person. He hugged Omi behind, wiping and kissing the younger boy's tears away._

_"Forgive me Omi...forgive me..."_

_Omi had hugged Ran tightly then. He saw a flash of Ken's smile for a moment, but did his best to push that memory out of his mind. He had someone else he had to take care of now. "I love you...Omi..." Ran finally managed to say. _

_He saw all the memories of himself and Ken flash before him, and then felt them all get tucked away in the back of his mind as he dug out some great memories of himself and Omi. "I love you too...Aya," he faintly heard the chibi's voice break through his thoughts._

_They stayed like that a while before going back to shop work. Their relationship only got better after that._

------------------------------------------------

He ran around the building looking for the upper floor, where the kingpin was said to have created a personal room for himself, the other two Weiss close behind him. He sliced through the guards that were trying to shoot at him, with quite poor aim since compared to the guards outside, these people were junkies who had no clue how to use a gun. He felt Ken tug at the back of his mind.

_"Ran! They said don't kill unless it was necessary!" Ken had said once to Ran on an assignment similar to this one._

_"Ken, understand one thing. We aren't here to save lives. We're here to eliminate them."_

_"But all of them? There are some innocent lives here!"_

_"We spare the ones that don't get in our way. If they cross our paths, they have given up their innocence to the devil."_

As luck would have it, the three Weiss ran across the boys who had shot Ken. Yoji rammed the toughest looking one into a wall. "Where is the guy behind this shit?" Yoji growled.

The boy only smirked and spit in Yoji's face. "I don't have anything to tell."

Yoji was pissed off. "Hey! I found out where he is!" Omi shouted at Ran and Yoji, "This boy told me. Top floor, as high up as we can go."

"You idiot!" the tough looking teen shouted at the shorter junkie, his face now showing an expression of fear as Yoji spit in his face and grinned at him.

"Should have told us sooner, we might have spared you. I hope you suffer the rest of your eternity, in Hell."

The tough boy pushed Yoji away with all his might, and the six boys total regrouped together and tried to take the three Weiss members on. Ran sliced through several of them with ease, Omi paralyzing the others with his paralysis darts while Yoji took care of the remaining three, including the boy who had refused to speak.

They left the bleeding corpses behind them. It hardly made up for Ken's condition, but it put them all a little more at ease that they were able to avenge a little bit for Ken.

The three Weiss slowed as they waited outside the final door of the building. After they had all caught their breath, Ran kicked open the door to the room. Their eyes all attempted to adjust because of the sudden illumination the room provided. Once their eyes adjusted, they saw a pretty panicked looking man who looked about forty holding up a gun with a shaky hand. He had a good build, but his personality appeared the type to only bully those far weaker than him, in order to look strong. "H-how did you get here so quickly? W-what d-do you all w-want?"

The three Weiss members moved in closer to the man, looking lethal. "You want money?" the man asked, "I can give you money...!"

Omi chuckled darkly, in his assassin mode. Unlike Ken, he knew _exactly _what he was doing when he was in this mode. And he was ready to kill. "Money won't replace what your men hurt."

The man laughed weakly, cocking his gun. "Erm...damaged goods? I have plenty here. You can take as much as you want! I don't normally give out free handouts but-AH!"

Yoji had wrapped one of his wires tightly around the man's wrist, causing him to drop the gun in shock. The man looked at the floor panicked. Yoji released the man's wrist and quickly wrapped another one around the man's neck as he tried to bend down and grab the gun. "I'm afraid you can't negotiate with us. This is revenge for something your men have done."

"Then why punish me!" the man wailed, "You should just punish those boys. Who are they? I can call them for you."

Yoji smirked. "What a shame, we already took care of them on our way here," he said as he pulled the man into standing position.

"Besides..." Ran continued, "You're part of our mission too. We are _Weiss_. Hunters of Justice. And today, is your day of judgement. For all the sins you have done."

Omi grabbed one side of Yoji's wire as Yoji moved to the other side, holding the other end, causing the man to be pinned in his place, helplessly scratching at the painful weapon tied around his neck. Ran positioned his blade. "Hell awaits," was all he said before driving his blade into the screaming man's stomach.

Omi and Yoji pulled tightly at the wire at the same time Ran had sliced the man, in order to make sure the man wouldn't survive. Yoji cut off the piece of wire from his watch looking compartment, and Ran pulled out his blade, shaking the fresh blood onto the ground. The rushed out of the room and got ready to head on out. That was when Yoji spotted the boy that should have been shot instead of Ken. _"Wait...that boy was standing at the shop that day...what is he doing here? Wait a minute...! Could he be the one who-?"_

"Yoji-kun! Wait!" Omi shouted after the blond, but it was too late. Yoji's mind was already made up.

Omi sighed as he watched Ran and Yoji chase after the boy who had escaped Ken's fate.

------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, doctors were frantically working to save Ken. His condition had started spiraling downward during an hourly assessment, and they were rushing him into the emergency room to try and keep Ken alive.

------------------------------------------------

The boy looked at him in fear as he found himself pinned in the corner. Yoji glared at him. "Why...are you _here_...?"

The boy shuddered under Yoji's gaze. "I-I came to ask for forgiveness..."

Yoji rolled his eyes. "From the boss? What kind of idiot are you? Do you honestly think they'll forgive whatever mistake it was you made?"

The boy shivered. "I...I don't know...but I had to try..."

Yoji snorted. "And tell me, _why _you had to try?"

"M-my brother...I need the money for my brother...he's got cancer..."

Yoji had been half-ready to kill the boy, when he simply just pulled the boy closer to him by the shirt. For a second he saw Ken's pale face, and caused Yoji to want to kill this boy so badly, but then he remembered Ken's smile.

_"Yoji!" Ken was laughing, "Yoji! Hey! Come on! I want to go see your place!"_

Yoji slowly started to put the boy down. _"Hey! I hope you know you're going to help me clean this up. It was partly your fault too!"_

He pushed the boy down to the ground. The boy looked at him, completely terrified. _"I love you, Yotan...!"_

He sighed and kicked at the ground out of frustration. "Get out of here."

The young teen looked at him in disbelief. "W-what...?"

Yoji glared at him. "I said, get out of here. Don't make me change my mind."

The boy looked so relieved. "T-thank you so much, sir."

Yoji's eyes softened. "Avoid this line of work, kid. Get a good job, or we'll be running into each other again, real soon. And next time, I won't be as nice."

"Yes, sir," the teen said and got up slowly.

He turned to Yoji. "Seigi."

"Eh?"

"Ishida Seigi...that's my brother's name," the boy whispered.

"Why are you telling me this?"

The boy smiled nervously. "I...I don't know. I just think he'd like to meet you, is all."

Yoji chuckled, amused. "Just...just get out of here, boy. I don't want to see your ass here again."

The teen nodded eagerly and ran out. Yoji sighed. _"You win, Ken...I let that boy go. He'd better amount to something good, damnit."_

He then turned and saw Ran and Omi look at him in awe. Yoji raised an eyebrow. "_What?_"

Omi smiled. "Yoji Kudou gone _soft _and showing _mercy _where it is _due?" _Omi chuckled, amused and completely relieved that Yoji hadn't killed the boy.

"I think I've died and gone to Heaven," Omi laughed and pretended to stab himself with an air knife.

Yoji laughed. "Whatever. Let's go check up on Ken."

The three Weiss headed for Yoji's car and zipped off for the hospital. They were in the parking lot in fifteen minutes flat, cutting a long drive amazingly short due to Yoji's insane speeding skills.

------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, inside of Kibou Hospital, Ken was breathing again. They had lost him for almost two minutes now. They were now frantically trying everything they could to revive him and keep him alive. The doctor patted Ken on the shoulder absently, as if that would bring the boy back to life instantly.

"Come on, boy...there's too many people out there waiting for you...find your way, and come back to us," the doctor murmured.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Saiki.Kensuke.Yuuta: Phew! Three updates in one day, that was exhausting! I hope that it is all satisfactory so far! I'm going to take a break before uploading the last chapter. So you can review this one up to here until then.

Anything good or bad going on? You let me know. I'll be listenin.

I'm going to try to end this fic with something as realistically as possible. It won't be perfect, but I hope the ending will satisfy. This chapter should have been the true ending, but I wanted to put a small twist on things. Hah! See you all soon!


	10. Zurückgewiesen

Author's Note: Dun da-da dum! Here we are! We have traveled to the final chapter.

Thanks for most of you bearing with my OOCness. I think even if I watch the rest of the series though, I wouldn't change these fics I write for the world. Not even for the unsatisfied. If anyone Korean is out there and notices this is almost like a mini-KD, then yay for you!

This fic was definetly a result of my frustration against KD producers and the way they seem to run things in their stories. Especially "Stairway to Heaven." I mean, what _honestly _was that? It was a surprising twist and an evil, pointless one that the guy randomly did at the very end to make the sad story a happy ending and then a sad ending. On the very last tape. When I saw that, I was like, "You have _got _to be kidding me."

Anyway, maybe I'll be mean with mine too. HAHA! I'll be the next evil KD producer! Hahaha. Okay, you be the judge.

Disclaimer & Warnings: Everything was listed first two chapters and chapter 7.

Pairing: YoKen mostly, RanOmi is still there, but only mere hints of it.

Fic Note: Maybe a sequel should be in order? Maybe not! You decide, readers! If I get at least 4 or 5 reviews for a sequel, that'll convince me. I want to know that at least a small handful of people are curious for more. No real reason to write a sequel that no one would want to read otherwise. If not, just review (or don't, if you don't feel like it, not expecting any forced ones) like usual. Good to hear from you all anyways.

Thanks to everyone who has stayed with the entire program! Much love to all of you! Especially my consistent reviewers. You all know who you are!

**Fixed a few minor errors in the other chapter. A beta reader pointed out I need to ," instead of ", Hahaha. Thanks, digi.**

_**Zurückgewiesen**_

"Look, lady. What do you mean you can't let us see him?" Yoji asked, frustrated.

The nurse looked at Yoji, afraid, but remained firm. "I'm sorry, sir. The doctor was very specific...you may wait in the waiting room even after the end of visiting hours, but that's as far as your privileges go for the moment."

Ran gave the woman a critical stare. There was something the woman wasn't saying, and he highly disliked people who kept secrets from people who needed to hear them, but he decided to wait it out. Ran wanted badly to ram the woman's head into the wall to get the information, but that just wasn't his style. He grabbed Yoji's shoulder to calm him. "We wait," he growled.

"But _Aya_!" Yoji responded, annoyed.

Omi grabbed both of their arms, trying to calm them. "Let's just wait in the waiting room, guys...they even said we can stay after visiting hours...we'll just have to wait it out."

Yoji gave the timid nurse one last death glare before finding himself a seat. Ran sat down next with Omi sitting in the seat between the two, trying to prevent more outbursts. Yoji was restless. "Something's happened to him..."

Omi's eyes grew big and round. "Please don't say that, Yoji-kun! I'm sure Ken is all right!" he said with slight uncertainty.

Ran just sat the whole time, not looking at either Weiss member. His mind was in a flurry of panic, but he tried not to show it. He was trying not to think of the worst possible situations Ken could be in, yet his mind kept wandering to those thoughts. Each of the Weiss members sat in uncomfortable silence, waiting for some kind of report.

------------------------------------------------

_Everything was a blinding white. Ken walked around cautiously. Something about the place didn't seem too horrid, though. In fact, the white seemed very warm and inviting. He took a few more steps forward, and he saw the most beautiful place in the world. He was in a field of lush greens, and there were many beautiful trees and flowers. The sky was a magnificent blue, with clouds that were so white and puffy. There were streams flowing, and there was a giant waterfall in the middle of it all. The waterfall was flowing from nowhere, Ken soon found, as he neared it, it seemed to be coming from an invisible crack in the scenery. It was mostly quiet until Ken neared closer to the waterfall, and he heard children playing. The sounds seemed to be coming from the other side of the waterfall. _

_Ken stepped into the waterfall, and found he was addicted to the feel. He smiled as he let his body soak in it. To his horror, when he opened his eyes, he saw the water turn a dark red. He looked at his hands. The blood of the people he had killed was coming off of him. He wasn't sure if this was a good or a bad thing. He felt that he had to move, to preserve the beauty of the water, but it just felt so good. Suddenly, the waterfall stopped. Ken looked up, and then looked at his hands. All the blood was gone. He was clean again. He looked at his feet, and the blood was running down the stream, appearing to be seperate from the water itself. He looked down the stream in awe, and then he felt himself get pulled backwards._

_He fell, and he saw a young boy smile at him. "Hey mister!" the boy said, "Want to come play with us?"_

_Ken blinked. "Uh...play?"_

_The boy smiled and nodded. "Uh-huh! In this place, we can play forever."_

_Ken blinked again. "Um...where are we, anyway?"_

_The boy laughed at him. "You don't know?"_

_Ken shook his head. "Oh! I'll tell you then. You're in Paradise."_

_"Para...dise? Why would I be here...?"_

_The boy smiled. "Because you belong here!"_

_Ken frowned slightly. "But I've done so many...bad things..."_

_The boy seemed to think for a moment. "Well, did the waterfall call you? Or did you not see one?"_

_"Call...me?"_

_"Yeah, you can't really hear it, but something about it makes you want to walk to it? I've never seen it myself, but there are some people here who saw a waterfall before they came."_

_Ken nodded slowly. "Yes...there was a waterfall..."_

_The boy's eyes grew big. "Really? So that can only mean one thing!"_

_Ken blinked. "What's that?"_

_The boy smiled happily. "That means that yes, you did something pretty bad..."_

_Ken winced. The boy continued, "But the falls cleansed you of it, because it had a request."_

_"A...request...?"_

_The boy nodded. "Yup! Someone wished something before their deaths. They probably wished you would end up here."_

_Ken's eyes widened slightly. "Who would..."_

_The boy smiled. "It doesn't really matter. You can find them later. Let's go play now!"_

_Bewildered, Ken got up and ran with the boy. They seemed to run for a long time before they reached a sort of small town. The boy pointed to one of the houses. "I live there. You can try finding your house at the registry in that building over there", the boy pointed another place, "But let's go play a little first, please?"_

_Ken nodded slowly. "O-okay..."_

_"Yay! Wait here, okay?"_

_Ken nodded again. He watched the boy go to the middle of the town and whistle, very loudly. Children came running from all sides. The boy said something to them, and pointed to Ken. They all smiled and the boy motioned for Ken to come over. Ken walked towards them. "Mister," the boy said, "We all wanted to know what kind of game you wanted to play. Since you're new, we thought you'd want to pick the game!"_

_Ken blinked, still not getting the concept of this world. It was so happy and peaceful. And someone had wanted him to come here? When he was pretty sure he deserved a place in Hell? Not that he wasn't grateful for this gift. But he was still confused. _

_"Mister?" the boy's voice broke into his thoughts._

_Ken looked down at them and smiled sheepishly. "Uh...how about...soccer? Anybody know that one?"_

_The boy crinkled his nose. "What's that?"_

_Ken's eyes widened and he flashed a big smile. "It's a game where you hit the ball with your feet and-"_

_  
"Oh!" the boy's face lit up with recognition, "Football!"_

_Ken was confused a moment, and then smiled. The boy must have come from another country. "Yes! That's the one."_

_It only took a few moments to explain to the children who didn't know, and they all got started. Ken had never felt so alive in his life. He felt the wind rush right through him, and he found himself laughing with all his might along with the children. Suddenly, he heard his name being called. "Hidaka! Ken!" in a large booming voice._

_Everyone stopped playing. The boy that had brought Ken into this place smiled at Ken. "Uh-oh! Looks like you have to make a visit to the Judge."_

_Ken blinked. "The Judge...?"_

_The boy nodded. "Yes. The Judge of Paradise. Someone must be looking for you. Come on, let's go!"_

_Ken followed the children who were running back into town. The boy pointed at the large building he had shown Ken before again. "Go there. That's where the Judge will be waiting for you."_

_Ken hesitated a moment, but ran quickly inside when he heard his name boomed out again. The inside appeared larger than the outside. "Come...forward!" the same voice boomed, "And hurry up, we don't have all the time in the world!"_

_Ken walked up to the person who appeared to be the Judge. He was an old man with small glasses on his face with a large book in front of him. He looked at Ken kindly. "You are, Hidaka?"_

_Ken nodded slowly. This place was just full of surprises. "Hidaka, Ken...ah yes, I remember now," the man slid off his glasses and rubbed his nose, "It appears there is_

_a slight problem with your arrival today."_

_Ken looked at the man blankly. "Huh?"_

_The man chuckled. "Well, it seems your death isn't set for quite a long time. Your death was purely accidental."_

_Now things seemed to make sense. "I'm...dead!"_

_The man laughed. "Yes, yes you are. You have been dead for about four minutes now. On Earth, anyway."_

_Ken gulped. "So...what does that mean? I'm stuck here forever?"_

_The man shook his head. "Actually, that is the good news. You saved someone else from death, so you will be sent back."_

_Ken was feeling a bit faint. "Okay..."_

_"And there's more good news."_

_Ken rubbed the back of his neck. "There is...?"_

_The man nodded. "Yes. Because you saved someone else from their death, and we have no record of you wishing for someone's soul to be saved...we'll allow you to wish for a soul now."_

_Ken crinkled his nose. "Like someone who saved me and allowed me to come here?"_

_The man nodded. "Yes."_

_Ken bit his lower lip as he thought about this. How could he pick only one of his friends and give them security? And would he still end up here if he died a second time? The Judge laughed, he seemed to have picked up on Ken's worries. "You will be here again, rest assured. And you may save more than one...but each will cost you."_

_"Cost...?"_

_"Yes. The opportunity to save souls is free for you, normally if you never thought of anyone to save, you just come here, and no one else is saved. But your death is not yet final, so you have a chance...but you must pay for each soul you save."_

_"With what, exactly?"_

_The man smiled. "With something of vital importance to you. For example, you could choose to forget the love of someone, or lose an arm or leg."_

_Ken cringed at the thought of losing a limb. "Is this all permanent...?"_

_"Well...it depends on what you choose to lose. Losing an arm will definetly be permanent until you return here. Losing interest in something well...we make exceptions," the man winked, "Normally, we make it policy to make every transaction permanent until death, but it all depends on the type of person as well."_

_The man handed Ken a quill and some parchment. "Now...what you do is put the full name of the person on the left, and you put what you wish to sacrifice for that person on the right. If you can't think of anyone, you just sign the parchment and you're on your way back home."_

_Ken stared at the paper. The man continued, "Oh, and one more thing. You won't remember your time here, until you are near death. That is another free warning we give people, so that they can choose the soul they want to save. It'll be more apparent to you than most, because the memory of your short time here will also be with you, unlike most people who just feel that death is around the corner. If you want to save another at that time, you may-without penalty."_

_Ken hurriedly scribbled down what he would give up. He then put each of his three friend's names at the side of one. Somehow, each name seemed to match what he was giving up. Signing the paper, he handed it back to the Judge. The old man took the paper, looked at it, and smiled at Ken approvingly. "Life will be a bit complicated for you from this...you must have great confidence in your friends."_

_Ken smiled. "I do."_

_The man rolled up the parchment and put it away in a slot. "Well then, we'll be seeing you again, Ken Hidaka."_

_Ken looked at his hands and realized he was fading away. He remembered something and looked up at the man. "Wait! I just want to know...who saved me?"_

_The man smiled. "A mother's love goes a long way," was all he said before Ken felt himself spiraling out of the peace and the calm._

The doctor had been just about to order everyone to shut down all of the life support systems when he saw, out of the corner of his eye, Ken's body arch back and heard him let out a choked breath. The monitor resumed its monotonous beeping, revived from a flatline. Everyone was silent as the doctor checked over Ken, then he signaled that the boy was all right, and that he was finally stable, just comatose. The cheers erupted from the room. They had lost Ken for almost seven minutes. Ken had spent his seven minutes in Heaven, and not a minute more.

The doctor shook his head as he watched the nurses prepare Ken for relocation. "Just amazing..."

------------------------------------------------

The heads of the three Weiss shot up as the saw the familiar nurse running madly from the emergency room end towards them. They misinterpreted her expression. Yoji was the first to greet her, and roughly. He grabbed her shoulders, his frustration and fears all being released on this woman as he shook her. "Where is he? What's going on?"

Ran and Omi tried to pry Yoji away from the nurse as she tried to catch her breath and speak. She started excitedly, "It was the most amazing thing..."

Yoji started to let the nurse down. _"Oh no..." _he thought, _"Amazing...? What happened to Ken!"_

The woman took in a gulp of air and started again, "This boy...he stopped breathing, and we lost him for-"

"Nani!" Omi shouted out, "You _lost _Ken? How is that amazing?"

Yoji completely let go of his grip of the nurse, numb. "Ken's...dead...?"

Ran clenched his fists at his side, he stared at the woman. "You're not finished."

The woman shook her head nervously. She had been so excited to tell the good news to these people, she hadn't even planned out how she was going to say this. "No, I wasn't finished. As I was saying..." she wrung her hands, "He was lost for seven minutes. Seven whole minutes."

Omi put a hand to his mouth. The woman continued, "But right when the doctor was going to shut down all of the systems-he wasn't responding to anything, you see-the boy suddenly revives out of nowhere!"

The three Weiss boys were silent. The nurse looked among them nervously and then lifted her hands up in exasperation. "Don't you all get it? The boy left this world and came back by _chance_! You all should be celebrating, not preparing for his funeral!"

The realization suddenly sunk in. Omi hugged Ran and Yoji had to lean on a wall out of relief. Ran looked at the nurse with an intimidating stare. The woman backed away a little bit. She couldn't understand how someone as good-natured as Ken could end up with such a dangerous looking crowd, save the chibi. She nervously half-smiled. "Yes...? Well, what is it?"

"So...where is Ken?" Ran asked finally.

Omi looked up, "Yes, and how is his condition?"

The nurse seemed to think for a moment. "Well...they're moving him back into the room he was in before...and he is comatose right now..." she said with a cautious air, trying not to upset the Weiss.

A small feeling of doom settled upon them, but they were grateful that Ken was still alive. The nurse spoke again, "Oh, and he's in much stabler condition now. That boy is just full of miracles."

They all looked at her numbly. The nurse then clapped her hands happily. "Oh yes! I'm sure you all would like to see him soon! I think they've already put him in the room upstairs, so we should take the elevator up to go see him. Follow me, please!"

Without hesitation, the three Weiss followed the nurse to the elevator and they made their way to the third floor. They stopped in front of Ken's room, and the nurse went inside first to make sure everything was in ready order before inviting the boys in. After the nurse had left them all alone, the three Weiss looked over Ken. The only sign that Ken was really alive at all was the consistent beeping of his health monitor. Ran and Omi were locked in a reassuring embrace as they watched Yoji hold Ken's hand and brush the boy's hair out of his face.

It was getting very late. The nurse came back into the room. "Well boys, you could spend the night here if you'd like."

Omi yawned and Ran looked over at Yoji, who smiled at them. "You guys should head on home...I'll be right here with Ken."

That was all Ran needed to hear. He faced the nurse. "We'll be leaving."

The nurse nodded and stepped aside, allowing Ran and Omi through. Yoji rummaged through his pocket. "Hey, Aya!"

Ran turned and raised an eyebrow. "Catch."

Ran caught Yoji's keys with one hand. "What about you?"

Yoji shrugged. "Just come back tomorrow."

Ran nodded. "All right. Tomorrow..."

After everyone left, and he was left with a pillow and a blanket by the nurse, Yoji rested his head by Ken's, his hand still holding Ken's as he went to sleep.

"Aya...?" Omi spoke sleepily.

"Hn...?"

"You think he'll be all right...?"

Ran patted Omi on the hand as he drove them to Ran's house. Omi could stay over, and he could just go back to his house after work tomorrow. "He'll be fine..."

Omi smiled and fell asleep. "Yeah...you're right...Ken's going to be okay now..."

------------------------------------------------

"Hey, Yoji!"

Yoji turned and smiled at the chibi. "Yeah? What is it, Omi?"

"How about these?" Omi held up some flowers for Yoji.

Yoji looked at them, and smiled, adding them to his bouquet. Ran had already contributed his selection earlier. "Yeah...these look good."

"Are you leaving now?"

Yoji nodded, taking the basket. "Yeah, I've got to."

"All right. I'll tell Aya when he comes back."

Yoji smiled. "Thanks, Omi."

Omi smiled and followed Yoji out. He watched Yoji get into his car and waved a farewell to Yoji as he sped off into the distance. Omi sighed happily and went back inside of the store, waiting for Ran.

------------------------------------------------

Yoji stepped in quietly to the shaded room. He frowned as he set the basket of flowers by the stand by Ken's head. He closed the door behind him and opened the blinds, allowing the light to come through and illuminate the room and he smiled. Ken would like this far better. He probably missed the outdoors. Yoji then pulled up a chair next to Ken and held one of Ken's hands, carressing it gently. He brushed his lips lightly over Ken's head and he he spoke to his sleeping lover silently. He then rested his head next to Ken's.

"Hey, love..." Yoji whispered, "How are you today...?"

The steady beeping of the monitor was his only response. Yoji sighed a little. "It's been two months...you know...you've been sleeping a long time."

He laughed and ran his thumb gently over Ken's hand. "Weiss was disbanded for good this time...Kritiker is making a new team...we're free, Ken. We got lucky, eh? It's too bad we can't take back our sins..."

The beeping seemed to increase a bit before it calmed down again. Yoji laughed. "You're excited too, huh..." he closed his eyes and smiled, starting to fall asleep.

"I love you so much, Ken...wake up soon...okay?" he whispered.

The scene looked so peaceful. The suns rays were warm on both men, and the white of the room seemed milky and fluffy, cushioning them. The small alarm clock on the stand went off behind the flowers, causing peaceful violin and piano music to flow. The beeping of the health monitor seemed less piercing, and more like a soft tone that could make someone envision a droplet of water falling from a leaf and causing ripples. Yoji felt his eyes closing, about to go off into his dreamworld of being together forever with Ken. Ken was dreaming of bits and pieces of his time in Paradise.

_"I'll wait for you forever, love...but don't take too long. Wake up, Ken...wake up soon..."_

OWARI!

Saiki.Kensuke.Yuuta: The end! Should I make a sequel...? I want to, but I don't know if that's a good idea. Oh well. Reviews please!

Look out for another Weiss fic and two new Gravitation fics. That's where I'll be hitting next!


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